Minister’s apology over ‘unacceptable’ two year specialist waiting times in Fife

They came at the health board’s public annual review session held on Monday afternoon.

Patients waiting two years to see specialist staff is "not right", according Jenni Minto, the Scottish Minister for Public Health and Women's Health,

One resident from Rosyth asked: “What is being done to reduce wait time? Two years to see specialist staff, with symptoms impacting daily life, is not acceptable.

Ms Minto apologised both personally and on behalf of the Scottish Government.

“Planned care hasn’t recovered after the pandemic despite significant effort and investment, and I absolutely agree it isn’t right that people are having to wait so long for the healthcare they require,” she said. “I know we need to do more, and we are investing more.”

From Fife’s perspective, Claire Dobson, director of acute services for NHS Fife, said the health board is tackling the issue on a number of different fronts.

“This is not a position that rests easy with us either. As a service we are looking to be as innovative as we possibly can around how to tackle waits,” she said.

“Cancer referrals, urgent referrals and long waiting patients are our priority and we are trying to do our utmost to ensure that patients are seen in the most [appropriate] way.”

She emphasised that Fife is using “innovation and good practice to maximise all the resources we’ve got”.

More specifically, NHS Fife has developed a local procedure room, allowing staff to take more procedures out of operating theatres and perform them under local anaesthetic. This means operating theatres can tackle more serious cases and reduce the number of people waiting.

Ms Dobson also highlighted NHS Fife’s patient hub – a digital solution to help the health board manage its waiting lists.

Where Fife is receiving additional support from the Scottish Government, Ms Dobson said the board is providing additional waitlist clinics, more diagnostics and more procedures as well.

The health board is also working with local health and social care partners to help people “wait well” and be fit for surgery when it’s scheduled.