Scottish Government making 'woeful progress' on bringing down waiting lists, says Scottish Labour

Labour has accused the Scottish Government of making “woeful progress” on bringing down NHS waiting lists, as figures show targets from as long ago as 2022 have still not been met.

The party pointed to figures showing that as of June 2026 there were 3,239 ongoing waits of two years or more across outpatient, inpatient and day case lists – despite the Government pledging in 2022 to end two-year waits for most specialisms.

Labour said a total of seven waiting list targets set by the Government over the last four years remain unmet, with the figures showing there were 31,335 ongoing waits of more than a year and 8,555 of more than 18 months.

The party also said recent figures show progress on NHS waiting lists is beginning to stall, with outpatient lists rising for the third consecutive month.

Scottish Labour health spokesperson Dame Jackie Baillie said: “A long list of SNP promises lies in tatters, while patients and staff pay the price.

“It is hard to trust the SNP will deliver on its current targets when we are still waiting for the SNP to deliver on the ones set five years ago.

“We cannot afford five more years of this woeful progress.

“The SNP must get a grip of the waiting list emergency at last and give Scots an NHS that is there for them when they need it.”

Health secretary Angela Constance said: “I’m grateful to the exceptional NHS workforce for the considerable effort they have made to help us meet a commitment to reducing waiting times and ensure more patients get access to the care they need sooner.

“We want to go further, and I welcome the First Minister’s announcement that £90m of dedicated funding to support those waiting the longest, creating additional capacity across our NHS.

“Better care will not be achieved simply by increasing activity.

“That’s why we have committed to targeted and immediate health actions.

“We’ll publish a new national plan for the flow of patients through hospitals, increase our planned number of GP walk-in services to 30, and deliver at least 50,000 operations and procedures within the first 100 days of government.

“We will also introduce the first heart and lung MOTs.

“Prevention is better than cure and catching issues early can save lives.”