People living in pain are facing waits of up to and over a year for vital hernia treatment in Dumfries and Galloway, South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has warned.

Statistics obtained by a Scottish Labour FOI have shown that in several health boards, Hernia patients have had to wait for hundreds of days for treatment.

In four health boards – NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Grampian and NHS Lothian – the median wait for an inguinal hernia repair stood at over a year in 2023/24.

Since 2018/19, the figures for median waits for an inguinal hernia repair in Dumfries and Galloway has risen by 175 per cent, from 144 to 396 days.

Colin Smyth said: “There is simply no excuse for waits of over a year for vital hernia treatment.

“In Dumfries and Galloway, the median wait in 2023/24 was 396 days.

“Waits lasting up to a year are now the norm and no action has been taken to end this dangerous situation.

“This cannot go on.

“NHS staff are working tirelessly to treat and support patients but they are being failed by this missing in action SNP government.”

“I am speaking to more and more constituents who have had to use their savings to pay for private treatment for a whole range of conditions because they simply can’t wait any longer for treatment on the NHS.

“This is privatisation through the backdoor and creates a real two-tier system because not everyone can afford to go private.”