HEALTH ON HOLD

Waiting times thrown into chaos as at least a dozen facilities across nation are shelved for up to 2 years >> Medical chiefs and MSPs raise concerns as Holyrood blames Westminster for funding shortfall

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

PLANS to cut lengthy NHS waiting times have been thrown into chaos after the Scottish Government halted all new NHS capital projects. 

At least a dozen medical facilities including National Treatm ent C entres and hospitals across the country have been put on hold for up to two years.

The move, blamed on a funding shortfall, was described as a “big blow to the people of Scotland” as one in six Scots are currently on a waiting list.

Last night Labour’s health spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said: “New National Treatment Centres were at the heart of the SNP’s NHS Recovery Plan and these delays spell disaster for waiting lists in Scotland. This is yet more broken promises from an SNP government with no plan. The SNP must come clean on when these projects will get back on track and how they will ensure Scots can get the treatment they need in the meantime.”

The move means there will be a halt on National Treatment Centres created around the country which would target waiting times in four key areas – orthopaedics, eye surgery, endoscopy and general surgery.

The biggest queues are for surgeries like hip replacements and cataracts and diagnostic tests for diseases like bowel cancer. The treatment time guarantees for all of these have not been met in several years.

But the delay to new projects will also mean the long-awaited replacement hospitals for Monklands, in Lanarkshire, and Belford, in Fort William, will not go ahead, nor will new health centres to replace some of the country’s Victorian general practices.