MORAY MP Douglas Ross says local people deserve better treatment from NHS Grampian after recent figures show that since the introduction by the SNP Government of the 12-week waiting time guarantee for treatment, the number of patients waiting more than 12 weeks in has soared to 36% in the NHS Grampian area.
Douglas said: “The legal waiting time guarantee is supposed to ensure that patients should wait no longer than 12 weeks for medical intervention once the course of treatment has been agreed. This was introduced by Nicola Sturgeon as Health Secretary and enshrined in the Patient Rights Act 2011.
“People in Moray, however, are nowhere near getting the prompt treatment that they are entitled to, with the latest figures showing that 36 per cent of patients in the NHS Grampian area have to wait longer than 12 weeks for treatment.
“NHS Grampian is the worst funded health board in Scotland by the Scottish Government. I regularly have local people contacting me who are facing waiting times in excess of 40 weeks to see a specialist after being referred by their GP and it’s across the board from ophthalmics to orthopaedics and cardiology to dermatology.
“It is totally unacceptable and it is clear that the SNP is failing their own patient treatment guarantee in spectacular fashion.
“It is time for Nicola Sturgeon and her cabinet colleagues to give the NHS the leadership it needs instead of focusing all their attention on a second independence referendum.