Question reference: S6W-08248
- Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 28 April 2022
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 11 May 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current average length of waiting time is for patients to receive routine surgical assessments for (a) cataract, (b) knee and (c) hip procedures, broken down by NHS board.
Answer
Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times warehouse to collect electronic patient records covering the waits that patients experience waiting for a new outpatient appointment. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment, such as whether the patient was waiting for an appointment in ophthalmology or orthopaedics. However, it is not possible to ascertain whether the appointment involved an assessment of whether the patient is suitable for a particular procedure. This level of information may be held locally by NHS Boards.
Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for new outpatient appointments, at specialty and NHS Board level, are published up to 31 December 2021 and can be found using the following link:
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/11694/newop_feb22.xlsx .