The demand on NHS Scotland has increased, since 2012, by 43% in the number of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment. Despite these increases:
‘New Outpatients at 30 June 2018: 75.1% of patients waiting for an appointment had been waiting 12 weeks or less. This compares with74.9% at 31 March 2018 and 74.6% at 30 June 2017.’
In NHS England:
‘[T]he number of patients now [April 2018] waiting longer than they should has topped 500,000 for the first time since 2008, although some trusts have had problems reporting data in previous months which has kept the figures lower than they were in reality.’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44445303
In Scotland, according to the same ISD report, around 18 000 had been waiting more than 12 weeks in April 2018.
Scotland has 10% of the population of England. Thus, if the problem was comparable in Scotland to that in England, there would’ve been 50 000 waiting for beds in April 2018. Therefore, the waiting times problem in England is nearly three time greater.
Talking-up Scotland 
You are right to report regularly on NHS Scotland, because it is one which the mainstream media and the unionist parties and the NHS Trade Unions continually knock.
The recent ambulance waiting times was typical. It originated with a Labour MSP. Note how almost every newspaper and broadcasting body led with the same story and in almost the same words.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi John – you’ll probably cover the Scottish Hospital Patient satisfaction survey info carried on news.gov.scot in a proper piece so won’t spoil it for people (it shows brilliant figures by the way! – also good figures re. IVF treatment in Scotland released today) – but will mention from news.gov.scot regarding the good figures from Scottish Court system – seems to have been a quiet revolution going on re. how debt around mortgage and rent arrears is being handled – Also big freeing up of Court of Session time by the 2014 Courts Reform Act introducing the Sheriff Court Personal Injury process. Keep repeating it ‘cos it’s true – SNP Scottish Govt. = Good Government in Action: see snippets below:
Debt cases made up 42% of all civil court cases initiated in 2016-17. There were 12% fewer debt cases than in 2015-16 and 54% fewer than in 2008-09.
There was a 6% drop in initiated cases of repossession following a breach of a mortgage or loan secured on a property compared to 2015-16. This continues a long-term downward trend (83% decrease since 2008-09).
Initiated cases involving eviction of tenants from a rented property decreased by 3% in 2016-17, this was in contrast to a consistent increase in the previous three years. However, overall the number of cases are still 28% lower than in 2008-09.
Compared to the previous year, the number of cases initiated in the Court of Session decreased by 48%. This overall decrease was driven by a 74% decrease in the number of personal injury cases initiated in the Court of Session, as a consequence of the establishment of the Sheriff Personal Injury Court under the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. In comparison, the number of cases initiated in the sheriff courts also decreased although by a lower proportion of 5%.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Ludo. Yes, will do comparative piece on NHS customer satisfaction today.
LikeLike