Chamber and committees

The figures provided below include patients waiting to have their initial appointment with a consultant (new outpatient) and patients who were waiting to be admitted for treatment (inpatient or day case) within select specialties relating to the question.

In the field of orthopaedic medicine, trauma is categorised as a severe injury to the elements of the musculoskeletal system (muscles, joints, ligaments, bones, and soft tissue). These trauma injuries are often the result of a sudden accident, such as a fall or car accident, and so the patient requires immediate medical attention. Consequently, no waiting times are provided here.

Table 1 shows the total number of patients waiting for a new outpatient appointment across NHS Scotland at 31 May 2019, 31 May 2020 and 31 May 2021, broken down by specialty. Note that 95 th percentile waits have been provided rather than the longest wait as a more robust measure. This is due to the likelihood of the longest wait for each specialty being a data quality issue as opposed to a true waiting time.

Table 1: Total waiting for a New Outpatient appointment and 95 th percentile waits, 31 May 2019, 31 May 2020, 31 May 2021; NHS Scotland