Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, has raised concerns about the number of people waiting on key diagnostic tests in NHS Lothian.
Diagnostic tests give doctors more information about a patient, so that they can confirm or rule out conditions and diseases. Key diagnostic tests include endoscopy and radiology. Endoscopy is where a long flexible tube with a light and camera shows images of a patients organs on a television screen. Radiology is the science of x-rays for taking images to diagnose a patient.
The eight key tests and investigation are upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy (excl. colonoscopy), colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan, barium studies and non-obstetric ultrasound.
In NHS Lothian a record 17,432 patients were waiting to be seen for a key diagnostic test at the end of September 2021. This is an increase of 790 from the end of June 2021 when 16,631 patients were waiting, an increase of 4.75%.
The number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test in NHS Lothian has risen by 2,989 in the last year from 14,443 at the end of September 2020, an increase of 21%.
Over the last two years the number of patients waiting for a diagnostic test has risen from 10,657 at the end of September 2019 by 6,775 patients, 64%.
Across Scotland 125,557 patients were waiting to be seen for the eight key diagnostic tests, an increase of 8.9% (+10,304) from 30 June 2021 and 22.2% higher than at 30 September 2020.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “We are seeing a very concerning increase in the number of patients waiting for a key diagnostic test in NHS Lothian over the last two years.
“The number of patients waiting over 6 weeks has more than tripled over the last two years.
“Diagnostic tests are vital for doctors to be able to diagnose and treat patient’s diseases.
“The quicker a patient’s illness is diagnosed the sooner they can get treatment, which improves their chance of recovery.
“The pandemic will inevitably have impacted diagnostic tests in NHS Lothian, however consistent underfunding for the health board by SNP Ministers had made diagnostic waiting times very long even before Covid-19.”
| Diagnostic Test & Investigation | Indicator | 31-Mar-19 | 30-Apr-19 | 31-May-19 | 30-Jun-19 | 31-Jul-19 | 31-Aug-19 | 30-Sep-19 | 31-Oct-19 | 30-Nov-19 | 31-Dec-19 | 31-Jan-20 | 29-Feb-20 | 31-Mar-20 | 30-Apr-20 | 31-May-20 | 30-Jun-20 | 31-Jul-20 | 31-Aug-20 | 30-Sep-20 | 31-Oct-20 | 30-Nov-20 | 31-Dec-20 | 31-Jan-21 | 28-Feb-21 | 31-Mar-21 | 30-Apr-21 | 31-May-21 | 30-Jun-21 | 31-Jul-21 | 31-Aug-21 | 30-Sep-21 | |
| 8 Key Diagnostic Tests & Investigations | Number on List | 13,156 | 12,092 | 11,304 | 10,791 | 10,261 | 10,087 | 10,657 | 11,638 | 12,248 | 12,621 | 12,968 | 13,361 | 12,844 | 13,840 | 14,637 | 14,277 | 13,349 | 13,815 | 14,443 | 14,370 | 14,391 | 15,248 | 15,306 | 15,109 | 15,864 | 16,434 | 16,925 | 16,631 | 16,321 | 16,642 | 17,432 | |
| Number Waiting > 4 Weeks | 4,884 | 4,525 | 3,528 | 3,179 | 3,100 | 2,920 | 2,995 | 3,675 | 3,854 | 4,755 | 4,427 | 4,866 | 6,345 | 11,640 | 11,232 | 9,895 | 8,211 | 7,469 | 7,680 | 7,547 | 6,936 | 8,356 | 8,151 | 7,985 | 7,803 | 8,381 | 8,510 | 8,815 | 9,206 | 9,449 | 9,541 | ||
| Number Waiting > 6 Weeks | 3,926 | 3,484 | 2,825 | 2,423 | 2,171 | 2,070 | 1,913 | 2,299 | 2,597 | 3,098 | 3,793 | 3,250 | 3,814 | 10,333 | 10,530 | 8,835 | 7,090 | 6,246 | 6,265 | 6,273 | 5,526 | 6,189 | 7,012 | 6,243 | 5,959 | 6,107 | 6,251 | 6,502 | 6,965 | 7,252 | 7,220 | ||
| Upper Endoscopy | Number on List | 2,186 | 1,868 | 1,429 | 1,334 | 1,079 | 1,153 | 1,021 | 1,116 | 1,255 | 1,544 | 1,673 | 1,826 | 1,917 | 2,016 | 2,090 | 2,186 | 2,206 | 2,265 | 2,331 | 2,309 | 2,244 | 2,297 | 2,268 | 2,186 | 2,171 | 2,342 | 2,404 | 2,312 | 2,307 | 2,333 | 2,385 | |
| Number Waiting > 4 Weeks | 1,634 | 1,282 | 868 | 777 | 704 | 643 | 554 | 627 | 735 | 969 | 1,089 | 1,250 | 1,508 | 1,921 | 1,950 | 1,933 | 1,854 | 1,900 | 1,979 | 1,955 | 1,838 | 1,883 | 1,905 | 1,852 | 1,759 | 1,892 | 1,958 | 1,921 | 1,938 | 1,941 | 1,926 | ||
| Number Waiting > 6 Weeks | 1,427 | 1,117 | 759 |