South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth has revealed that the SNP’s waiting time law has been broken nearly 300 times in Dumfries and Galloway so far this year.

Latest figures published today (27 November) by the Scottish Governments Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland show that 286 patients in Dumfries and Galloway have waited longer than 12 weeks for treatment.

In 2012, the SNP Government introduced the Treatment Time Guarantee, which gave patients a legal right to treatment within 12 weeks for conditions such as knee and eye operations.

The figures showed an increase of 103 patients waiting longer than the Treatment Time Guarantee compared to the same time last year.

The shocking figures come just a month after the SNP Health Secretary Jeanne Freeman confirmed the SNP Scottish Government plans to continue failing patients by breaking its own law until 2021 at the earliest.

Colin Smyth MSP said, “The SNP promised patients in Dumfries and Galloway that they would have a legal right to treatment within 12 weeks. That promise which was enshrined in law has been broken 286 times this year so far.  Behind these figures are patients who are being left in pain and distress while waiting patiently for the treatment they deserve. Our NHS staff are simply not getting the support they need from the Scottish Government. It’s vital that the Government provides more money for health care in it’s upcoming Budget to ensure we can start to tackle the challenges facing our NHS in Dumfries and Galloway.”