Tag: increase in number of NHS operations

Scotland’s NHS is ‘turning a corner’

Health Secretary welcomes sustained rise in activity

New figures show the number of operations carried out in the 12 months to April 2026 increased by 7.3% compared to the same period the year before.

New statistics from Public Health Scotland show a total of 281,115 operations were performed during the last 12 months, while 770 operations were carried out per day – an increase from 718 for year ending April 2025.

The increase in activity comes as latest waiting times statistics show new outpatient waits of over a year have decreased for 11 consecutive months and inpatient and daycase waits over a year reducing for 15 months in a row.

This is in addition to new figures which show Scottish Government pledges on extra appointments have been surpassed – the promise to provide 150,000 additional appointments last year has been exceeded, with latest data showing 168,177 additional appointments and procedures were carried out in the financial year up to March 2026 compared to same period in the previous year.

In the first 9 months of 2025-26, 34,089 procedures were carried out in National Treatment Centres, surpassing the commitment to see planned activity increasing to over 30,000.

Health Secretary Angela Constance said: “I am pleased to see sustained and continued improvement in the number of operations carried out. Coupled with our continued progress to reduce waiting times, these latest figures show our plan is delivering for Scotland.

“I thank all NHS staff for their continued hard work and dedication – teams all across the country are driving this progress.

“We have delivered on our pledge to provide 150,000 additional appointments last year and our NTCs activity has surpassed our target already this year – our NHS is turning a corner and we are determined to build on this progress and ensure people are receiving the treatment they need as soon as possible.”

Increase in number of NHS operations performed in Scotland

‘Our plan is delivering’ – Health Secretary welcomes new figures

New figures show the number of operations carried out in the 12 months to January 2026 increased by 6.1% compared to the same period the year before.

New statistics from Public Health Scotland show a total of 276,118 operations were performed during the last 12 months, while 756 operations were carried out per day; an increase from 713 for year ending January 2025.

This comes on the back of new waiting times statistics which show waits of over a year have decreased for 8 consecutive months – with new outpatient waits of more than 52 weeks more than halving since July 2025 and waits of over a year reducing by almost 30% for inpatient/day-case procedures in the same period.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “These new figures show that our plan is delivering for Scotland – I am pleased to see sustained and continued improvement in the number of operations carried out, despite on-going pressures and the adverse weather seen over Winter which has impacted activity.

“I thank all NHS staff for their continued hard work – they are driving this progress and these figures are further evidence that our NHS is turning a corner.

“We are seeing waits of over a year come down month after month and we are delivering thousands more operations, procedures and appointments compared to last year – we are determined to build on this momentum.”