HEALTH TARGETS MISSED: NHS PATIENT LEFT WAITING 7 YEARS FOR TREATMENT

Freedom of Information request reveals shocking number of people left trapped in lengthy queues

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

A PATIENT waited seven years before receiving specialist treatment, recently unveiled NHS figures have revealed.

And currently, one patient in the Dumfries and Galloway area has been waiting almost five years.

A FOI request by the Scottish Lib Dems revealed almost every health board that responded admitted they had patients who have currently waited years for treatment.

Despite the assurances given by First Minister Humza Yousaf when he was health secretary that people would not be waiting more than two years by September 2022, most health boards have patients exceeding this target.

In Dumfries & Galloway, the longest a patient is currently waiting is 1763 days - that's four years, 10 months and three days.