Dame Jackie Baillie pictured with members of her Labour campaign team in Dumbarton.
by Lucy Ashton
Scottish Labour has warned that “John Swinney and the SNP cannot be trusted with our NHS” as a slew of damning new statistics are published.
For years the SNP has been pledging to deal with the crisis in A&E, boost the number of operations taking place in Scottish hospitals, and eradicate delayed discharge.
However, in March 2026:
- 1 in 3 Scots waited too long in A&E, with more than 17,300 people waiting over 8 hours and 7,500 people waiting over 12.
- 961 fewer operations took place than in 2019, meaning a total of 29,000 fewer operations took place over the course of the year.
- 59,618 bed days were lost to delayed discharge – the equivalent of more than 1,900 a day.
Scottish Labour said these figures show the SNP has “failed miserably” in its task to deliver an NHS recovery after the pandemic, accusing John Swinney of “complacency”.
Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said, “Five years ago, the SNP was elected on a promise to help our NHS recover from the pandemic, but it has failed miserably.
“After years of missed targets and empty promises, no one believes a word John Swinney and the SNP have to say on our NHS.
“Instead of taking responsibility for his government’s appalling record, all we ever get from John Swinney is complacency and spin.
“We cannot keep telling Scottish patients to accept the unacceptable and asking hardworking NHS staff to do the impossible.
“It’s clear John Swinney and the SNP cannot be trusted with our NHS.
“On Thursday, we can vote to save our NHS by electing a Scottish Labour government led by Anas Sarwar.
“Scottish Labour will tackle the waiting times emergency, end the 8 am rush for a GP, ease pressure on hospitals and support NHS staff.”
Delayed discharge – March 2026:
- The average (median) length of delay for people delayed at the March 2026 census was 28 days. This is less than as at the census point in February 2026 (29 days), more than January 2026 (23 days) and the same as December 2025 (28 days).
- Average number of beds occupied per day
- The average number of beds occupied per day due to people delayed in the hospital was 1,923 in March 2026. Compared to the previous three months, this is less than in February 2026 (1,984), January 2026 (1,973) and December 2025 (1,967).
- Delayed days in the hospital
- In March 2026, there were 59,618 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is similar to the number of delayed days in March 2025 (60,129).
Monthly A&E, March 2026:
- There were 144,855 attendances at A&E in NHSScotland (compared to 123,002 the previous month, and 137,702 monthly average for 2025).
- 97,838 (67.5%) of A&E attendances were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours.
- 17,349 (12.3%) patients spent more than 8 hours in A&E.
- 7,564 (5.3%) patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E.
Cancelled ops, March 2026:
- There were 28,454 operations planned to take place across NHS Scotland. The latest figure is the highest number of operations planned to take place in the post-pandemic period and 3.3% lower (-961) than March 2019 (29,415), the latest equivalent month before the pandemic.
- In NHS Scotland, 8.9% (2,519) of planned operations were cancelled the day before or on the day the patient was due to be treated. This is a higher rate (+0.7 percentage points) than a year previously in March 2025 (8.2%; 2,065). The cancellation average rate over the last 12 months was 8.8%, a little higher than one year earlier when it was 8.6%. The 12-month average rate immediately before the COVID pandemic was 8.8%. Across NHS boards, the percentage ranged from 4.7% to 13.7% in the most recent month.
- Of all planned operations during March 2026 in NHS Scotland, 915 (3.2%) were cancelled the day before or on the day of treatment by the hospital for clinical reasons, 849 (3%) by the patient, 621 (2.2%) by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 134 (0.5%) for other reasons.
Planned operations:
|
April 2025 – March 2026 |
307,272 |
|
April 2018 – March 2019 |
336,410 |
|
Difference |
-29,138 |