The number of Scots waiting more than a year for NHS treatment increased in May – despite ministers having previously pledged to end such long waits.
The figures came after the Scottish Government missed its target to end waits of 12 months or more by March 2026.
While there had been falls in the number of patients facing these longest waits, new figures from Public Health Scotland showed that at the end of May some 17,267 patients had been waiting a year or more – an increase of 55 from April.
“This brings to an end month-on-month reductions of waits over 52 weeks for a sustained period,” the health body said.
The figures showed 2,268 patients had been waiting two years or more at the end of May, with this down by 24 from the previous month.
Overall, there were 156,366 patients waiting for either inpatient or day treatment in one of Scotland’s hospitals – a reduction of 0.3% from April and 2.1% less than the end of May 2025.
Public Health Scotland further estimated that 579,814 people were on an NHS waiting list either for an outpatient appointment, inpatient or day case treatment – with this said to be equivalent to about one in 10 of the population.
As the figures were published, Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “After two decades of chronic SNP mismanagement, the backlog in our NHS has spiralled out of control.”
He added: “Frontline staff are working flat out to clear the backlog, but years of dire SNP workforce planning has pushed them beyond breaking point and unable to reach demand.
“This SNP inaction is forcing desperate Scots to raid their life savings to go private to avoid these intolerable waits.”
Health Secretary Angela Constance said the figures showed “our exceptional NHS workforce is treating more people across Scotland and dealing with significant pressures in doing so”.
A total of 105,175 people attended an outpatient clinic in May, with this up by 1.7% from the previous month but 6% lower than in May 2025.
Meanwhile, 22,336 people were admitted to hospital for either inpatient or day case procedures in May 2026 – 1.2% more than in April and 0.1% higher than the same month last year.
Ms Constance said: “Hospital activity is up and as a result we are seeing long waits for operations coming down.
“Thanks to our hard-working staff and targeted Scottish Government investment, we are building more capacity.
“This is surpassing our target to provide 150,000 additional appointments last year and an additional 30,000 procedures in our network of national treatment centres.”
She continued: “We know, however, that delivering better care cannot be achieved simply by increasing activity.
“Real long-term progress will mean improving access to care on our doorstep and in communities. It requires change in how we deliver social care and address delayed discharges from hospitals.
“In our first 100 days of government we will introduce a new national plan for the flow of patients through hospital.
“We are investing in more community care, including opening more GP walk-in centres across the country and introducing heart and lung MOTs. Prevention is better than cure and catching problems early saves lives.”