Up to £20 million made available to boards to boost progress
Waiting lists continue to fall in Scotland with waits over 52 weeks reducing for 7 months in a row.
New figures from Public Health Scotland show at 31 December 2025 new outpatient waits of more than 52 weeks had reduced by 15.4% when compared to November 2025. These waits have reduced every month since July 2025 with total waits over 52 weeks down by 40.1% in that period.
The data also shows long waits for inpatient and daycase procedures have fallen every month since July 2025, with 52 week waits decreasing by 23.9% in that period.
New operation statistics also show an increase in activity in the last year – between January 2025 and December 2025 the number of operations carried out increased by 5.6% compared to the same period the year before. A total of 274,638 procedures were carried out in this period.
To further build on this progress, extra funding of up to £20 million is being made available to health boards for the current year.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “These latest figures show our plan is delivering for the people of Scotland and our NHS has turned a corner – we are seeing sustained progress in reducing waiting times with activity also increasing compared to last year.
“Thousands more appointments, operations and procedures are being delivered this year and we are determined to continue to build on this momentum, ensuring people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.
“We are seeing downward trends across nearly all waiting list indicators which shows our targeted investment this year is having a real impact on people’s lives. None of this would be possible without out hard-working NHS staff and I want to thank each and every one of them for the progress they are delivering.”
