NHS Tayside patients facing year-and-a-half wait for urgent gynaecology appointments

The latest NHS Tayside waiting times show some women have had to wait almost year-and-a-half for an urgent gynaecology appointment.

As of the end of February 2026, some women faced a 76-week wait for an urgent appointment and a 108-week wait – over two years – for a routine gynaecology outpatient appointment.

NHS Tayside has arranged extra appointments and operations and said, by the end of this month, it will reduce the waiting time to within a year for an appointment and to “only a small number of women” who will have waited over two years for surgery.

In spring 2023, Rosemary from Perth discovered she had a prolapse. She had a smear test in April 2023 and was referred to gynaecology and for an ultrasound at Perth Royal Infirmary. The ultrasound revealed she also had an ovarian cyst, which was about 3-5cm. Rosemary learnt she had endometriosis.

In March 2024, the 54-year-old had an MRI scan at Ninewells and the cyst – which was benign – was about 7cm.

Just over a year-and-a-half later, in November 2025, Rosemary successfully underwent surgery at Ninewells to remove the cyst. Surgeons ended up removing not one but two cysts. However, she was still left with her prolapse and was told – after her op – it too would now require surgery.

In December 2025, she was given a follow-up appointment in Forfar two weeks after her operation.

Rosemary said: “She told me there was a waiting list. When I asked how long it was, she said ‘years’.

“And my heart sank.”

Rosemary is on her feet all day because of her work.

She said: “My problem was the prolapse. Why couldn’t they fix it at the same time?

“It’s been going on for three years.”

In February 2026, Rosemary received a letter from NHS Tayside confirming she would be getting prolapse surgery but has no idea when.

She said: “I got a letter to say I would get an operation ‘in due course’. ‘In due course’ means nothing. One of my friends is to have an urgent hysterectomy but it’s in six months.”

NHS Tayside’s latest outpatient waiting times at the end of February 2026 showed the longest waits for any speciality were for gynaecology. The list is based on completed waits in the previous three-month period for an urgent or routine consultant-led acute outpatient appointment and list the 90th percentile wait – the longest that nine out of ten patients waited.

NHS Tayside has said it is working to drive down the waiting times for gynaecology.

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “Waiting times for gynaecology treatment are longer than we would like and therefore there has been a drive to deliver a significant number of additional appointments and operations with both our own staff and with the support of staff from the independent sector.

“This additional work means that by March 31, 2026, no one will be waiting longer than 52 weeks for a gynaecology outpatient appointment and there will remain only a small number of women who will have waited longer than 104 weeks for an operation. We will be working to continue to improve this position further over the course of the year.”

NHS Tayside said it cannot comment on individual cases. The health board has invited Rosemary to contact its Patient Experience Team to discuss any concerns she may have.