Liz Smith MSP has called on the SNP Government to help tackle the backlog of operations with more than 1,000 scheduled to take place in Tayside.

The Scottish Conservative politician was reacting to figures released by Public Health Scotland which show that there were 1,967 scheduled planned elective theatre operations in the NHS Tayside area in August 2019 with 1,185 planned for August this year.

Liz Smith, who represents the Mid Scotland and Fife region, said that while she acknowledges health staff in Tayside will have been focused on dealing with the outbreak of Covid-19, the backlog of operations will continue to build-up if it is not addressed.

Commenting, Liz Smith said: “These figures show that too many patients have been waiting too long in Tayside for their operation and it underlines how the SNP Government need to make sure health boards are fully resourced.

“The data from Public Health Scotland shows how the number of scheduled operations in Tayside fell to 258 in April and then to 247 in May during lockdown, but they increased again to reach 1,185 in August this year – this is a very concerning figure.”

She continued: “This backlog of operations in Tayside has to be addressed by the SNP Government and tackled urgently by making sure health boards have enough staff and funding. I realise that health boards had to be ready to deal with the outbreak of Covid-19 back in March, but normal services resumed some months ago, so it is alarming to hear of such a high number of planned operations now.”