by Democrat reporter
A new independent investigation into the state of Scotland’s NHS has warned that “more of the same will not be enough” to save the NHS for future generations.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dame Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton MSP.
The report reveals:
-
Since 2007, more than 130 major health strategies have been published — the equivalent of one every seven weeks.
-
The median wait time for an NHS 24 call to be answered had increased from 9 seconds in 2014/15 to over 5 minutes in 2019/20. In 2024/25 it was 22.5 minutes.
-
Diagnostic waiting times continue to climb: by December 2024, the radiology waiting list was 88% higher than in December 2017, while the endoscopy waiting list had grown by 36%.
-
As pressures intensify, more patients are turning to private healthcare — since 2019/20, private admissions have increased by 55%, effectively creating a two-tier healthcare system.
-
NHS staff are around 50% more likely than the general population to experience chronic stress, linked to staff shortages, high workload, and pressure to maintain quality care.
A summary of some of the statistics showcasing the challenges facing the NHS below as is a fully copy of the McKirdy report.
-
· A&E departments have not met the 95% standard for patients to be seen within four hours since August 2017.
-
· The proportion of patients waiting more than an hour to be triaged in A&E has increased from 2.1% in 2017/18 to 5.7% in 2024/25
-
· From July 2024 to June 2025, around 24% of individuals attending A&E had multiple attendances within the 12-month period, with 8% having three or more.
-
· The median wait time for an NHS 24 call to be answered had increased from 9 seconds in 2014/15 to over 5 minutes in 2019/20. In 2024/25 it was 22.5 minutes.
-
· By 2019/20, only 67% of ambulance call outs to potentially life-threatening cases arrived within 10 minutes, down from 85% in 2012/13. In 2024/25 it had fallen as low as 61%
-
· In 2013 almost all patients were treated within the 12-week Treatment Time Guarantee, but by December 2019 less than 72% were meeting the target. Since December 2022 it has been around only 57%
-
· Since 2019/20, private admissions have risen by 55% and stats last week showed a record number of private admissions.
-
· The number of occupied beds due to delay has risen from 1,400 in 2019 to about 2,000 in late 2024, representing one in nine (10.8%) acute beds in 2023/24. Most recent stats showed delayed discharge remains around 1,900 bed every day.
-
· Prior to the pandemic, the median length of delay was around 15 days. In 2024/25 it averaged closer to 20 days
-
· Potentially preventable admissions have risen from 6.3% of all admissions in 2014/15 to 7.3% in 2023/24.
-
· Scotland has historically spent more per head on health, though the gap has narrowed in recent years, from around 17% in 2006/07, to just 2% by 2023/24.
-
· Around half of the consultants (43%) and nurses (54%) who left the NHS between April 2024 and March 2025 were under the age of 55.
-
· Sickness absence has risen from 5% in 2015 to 6.4% in 2025, with mental ill health a leading cause.
-
· NHS staff are around 50% more likely than the general population to experience chronic stress, linked to staff shortages, high workload, and pressure to maintain quality care.
-
· Reliance on temporary staff has escalated, with nearly 10% of nursing expenditure now spent on bank or agency contracts.
-
· In the early 2000s, about 1 in 5 people in Scotland reported believing that the standard of healthcare had improved – this fell to 1 in 10 in the years leading up to the pandemic. More recently only around one in 20 believe the health system’s standard has increased.
-
· There is a rising backlog of estate repairs, which reached £1.5 billion in 2025/26. Of this, 7% (almost £106 million) is classed as high-risk.
-
· Between 2010/11 and 2019/20, capital expenditure averaged 3.8% of the budget; by 2023/24, this had dropped to 2.6%.
- · 28% of MRIs are more than 10 years old, with 9% exceeding 15 years, while 17% of CT scanners are over 10 years old, with 4% beyond 15
Royal Children’s Hospital, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Vale of Leven Hospital. Top of page Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives have today launched a ‘Fast Track to Care’ policy to tackle delayed discharge in Scotland’s hospitals, which are at the highest levels on record.
Under the party’s plans, patients in eligible areas with care home capacity, boosted by additional funding, would be placed temporarily in a care home within 48 hours of being declared fit for discharge.
The scheme would only be piloted in council areas where local authorities have proactively opted in.
The proposal would secure up to 600 short-term care home beds in pilot areas by providing funding to Health and Social Care Partnerships in the local council areas that have chosen to take part.
It’s not yet known where West Dunbartonshire Council stands on this issue, but it is bound to be contested in the local community.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “SNP ministers promised to eradicate delayed discharge a decade ago, but on their watch it’s at a record high – with 720,000 bed-days lost last year alone.
Conservative spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane and First Minister John Swinney
“John Swinney should be throwing the kitchen at sink at this crisis. Instead of focusing on our overstretched health service, he’s once again talking up his independence obsession. It’s not just a distraction — it’s a dereliction of duty.
“While he fixates over the constitution, we’re putting forward a bold, practical plan to cut delayed discharge, free up desperately needed hospital capacity and bring down waiting times.
“Our Fast Track to Care proposal would ensure patients are moved into care homes within 48 hours of being declared fit for discharge — by securing up to 600 short-term care home beds in pilot areas and boosting funding for councils that opt in.
“We can’t ignore this crisis any longer. Bold action is needed to reduce the pressure of our NHS and save taxpayers’ money. We’ll keep offering the common-sense solutions Scotland desperately needs.”
And here was me thinking that after we exited the EU and big yellow bus would be coming to Blighty every week with many tens of millions of pounds of money for our NHS. Well that plus a golden age was what we were told.
And now we are told, by the very same snake oil salesmen it’s all the immigrants fault that things aren’t so good as Blighty economic decline gets even worse.
But fear not, in Scotland there are now electors who see salvation in this sales pitch and are now going to vote for a man and his party who believe that US style corporate health care is the way.
Oh well I wish them and indeed us too, with that. To me it’s simple. Unless you educate and produce decline is inevitable. Of course in Scotland we do produce. Just look at the huge and increasing bonanza that offshore and hydro power generation delivers. Not that Jock would know as he struggles to heat and light his home.
Ah well, maybe the question is do we need a National Heakth Service tge answer to which im sure we will soon find out.
In an appalling piece of partisan journalism, we only get to read comments from opposition politicians with no reply sought from the Scottish government.
That’s not quite true. We live in a world of spin doctors. They choose the time and place where announcements will be made. We always try to be fair and balanced, but we are under pressure to print what they want us to say. In the case of West Dunbartonshire Council, they have banned us from speaking to them except through a long, arduous and time-consuming process, including freedom of information requests. An anti-democratic Labour-run organisation, they make it as difficult as possible for us, but we persist. The McKirdy Report was discussed at Holyrood this morning and we will report that including a rebuttal from the First Minister asap. Thanks for your comment though. Editor.