Question reference: S6W-08249
- 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 12 May 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the current average length of waiting time is for patients to receive (a) cataract, (b) knee and (c) hip surgery, 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 treatment as an inpatient or day case under the Treatment Time Guarantee. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, although the records are designed to collect coded information on the procedure that is planned for the patient, this information is often either incomplete, lacking in essential detail and/or its accuracy cannot be assured. In addition, for patients who have completed their wait, the procedure(s) that was planned may not always reflect that actually performed after they were admitted for treatment. The latter is not captured through the warehouse. Consequently, PHS is not currently able to report accurately on waiting times to this level of detail. More detailed information on the procedure(s) that is planned or undertaken for a patient will be held locally by NHS Boards.
Statistics relating to the waits patients experience for inpatient or day case treatment at specialty level are published up to 31 December 2021 and can be found using the link below:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11657/ipdc_feb22.xlsx .