South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth has warned that patients are being left in pain as a result of waiting times for key treatments like physiotherapy and podiatry in Dumfries and Galloway not being met.

The local MSP made this claim after a new report from the Scottish Government’s Information Services Division (ISD) Scotland published on 19 June revealed that over 45% of patients in the region waiting for such treatment had to wait beyond the 4-week target.

The Scottish Government target for musculoskeletal waiting times is that 90 per cent of patients referred for a clinical out-patient appointment should have their first appointment within four weeks.

These include treatments such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody, podiatry and orthotics.

The latest figures from ISD Scotland show that of the 2,336 patients seen in the first quarter of 2018, 1,071 waited longer than four weeks.

South Scotland Labour MSP Colin Smyth said, “These figures again, are showing the scale of the SNP Government’s mismanagement of our NHS. For one patient to be left in pain is bad enough, but over a thousand patients in Dumfries and Galloway, equating to over 45% of all patients, having to wait beyond four weeks for key treatments like physiotherapy is just not good enough.

Waiting so long for such important treatment can set recovery back for patients or even make their condition worse. In turn, that can add more pressure to the NHS if the patients end up at Accident and Emergency or in a hospital ward. If the SNP Government are going to set timescales for treatment they need to start properly resourcing our NHS as the waiting times are getting worse, not better.”