Increase in patients waiting 18 weeks from referral, figures show

The proportion of patients waiting 18 weeks from referral to treatment has increased, figures show.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) released the figures on Tuesday, showing 158,135 of the 235,977 referrals in the three months up to December 31 were seen within the target time.

The figure is equivalent to 67% of all referrals, a fall from 67.6% of referrals the previous quarter.

But the figure was a slight increase from 66.5% of referrals during the same time in 2023.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The 18-weeks referral to treatment (RTT) standard is one of a number of targets set by the Scottish Government for access to hospital services.

“Responsibility for delivering the 18-week RTT standard lies with the NHS board that receives the initial referral, as this board will be responsible for agreeing with the patient and relevant clinicians the most appropriate pathway of care.

“While this is not legally binding, NHS boards are expected to ensure 90% of referrals meet this standard.

“We want patients to be treated as soon as possible.

“That is why we are investing £200 million to reduce waits, enhance capacity and reduce delayed discharge.

“We are also looking to optimise the full force of the £21.7 billion committed through the Scottish Budget to health and social care to improve performance.”

The release of the figures comes as PHS statistics head Scott Heald announced it will be pausing its collection of data on the 18-week target.

In a letter from the agency to the head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, Ed Humpherson, Mr Heald said the decision would free up capacity at PHS to assess the impact of the Government’s pledge to see 150,000 more patients this financial year, as announced by the First Minister in January.

“I have taken the decision to pause data collection and production of the PHS quarterly statistics publication on adherence to the NHS Scotland 18-week referral to treatment (RTT) standard,” the letter said.

“This will enable us to divert resource to developing statistics about NHS performance around activity for eight key diagnostic tests, an area of significant public interest.

“Developing these statistics will contribute to the measurement of progress towards the Scottish Government’s commitment to see 150,000 more patients in the financial year 2025-26.”

Mr Heald said the level of resource expended by PHS and health boards to track the 18-week target figures was “disproportionate to their value”.