Age Scotland calls for a 'workable action plan' to get the NHS back on track

Age Scotland has reacted to Audit Scotland's report on the NHS with a call for the leaders of the health service in Scotland to come up with a workable action plan to address failings in the system.

Scotland's national charity for older people warned that countless older people are suffering due to increased waiting times, delays to diagnostic appointments, delayed hospital and postponed routine surgeries.

Mark O'Donnell, chief executive of Age Scotland, said:

“The Audit Scotland report lays bare the full scale of the huge challenges facing the NHS in Scotland – and the very real impact it is having on patients. It is alarming that even after Covid restrictions have been lifted and the health service is supposedly fully operational, A&E waiting times, delayed discharge figures, waiting lists for treatment, routine surgery and diagnostic testing are all on the rise.

“Meanwhile countless older people across Scotland are suffering as a result of the issues that plague the NHS. Many desperate older people have said they would go private, if they could afford it, to avoid a lengthy delay in getting seen at hospital. Others are living with the debilitating consequences of not being seen and treated in a timely fashion.

“It seems clear that the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland need to set out a workable action plan for getting the health service back on track. It is no longer acceptable to tolerate long delays and unmet targets as ‘the norm’. Those running the health service, at local and national level, have to act urgently to ensure the NHS can work to overcome its current challenges and deliver healthcare to those who need it, when they need it.”