Patients with diabetes or similar condition make up more than half of people who have had to wait more than 18 months for a hospital outpatient appointment.
A new NHS Ayrshire and Arran report showed that a total of 1,027 new patients had to wait more than 18 months at the start of January.
Of these, 513 were related to diabetes and endocrinology. This was followed by 205 patients waiting for a neurology appointment, 125 for ‘general medicine’, and 84 for gastroenterology appointments.
The majority of other hospital services had a much lower waiting list, with 22 days for ophthalmology, 18 for oral and maxillofacial surgery, and 13 for respiratory appointments.
A number reported no waits of more than 18 months, including anaesthetics, cardiology, neurosurgery, oral surgery, orthodontics, and paediatric surgery.
The latest figures do show a marked improvement since last summer, when the number of patients waiting more than a year and a half had hit a high of 3,375.
The total number of people on the waiting list for new outpatient appointments was 43,858 at the end of December. This was an improvement on the 45,156 recorded at the end of September.
The figures relating to the 18 month period were the second set of targets for the NHS.
Ayrshire and Arran health board heard how the previous waiting time target had progressed.
A target had been set for no patients being forced to wait more than two years by the end of August 2022.
The reality saw 1,294 patients waiting more than two years. It has since fallen to 461, having hit a high of 1,380 in September.
A new waiting time target aiming for no waits of more than one year has been set for March this year.
The report stated: “We continue to prioritise patients deemed to have high clinical urgency.
“The number and proportion of urgent referrals received continues to be greater than pre-pandemic however we are balancing ensuring these patients are appointed timeously whilst also appointing the longest waiting patients.”
The report said that they were working to identify opportunities for patients to be treated outwith Ayrshire and Arran using the new National Elective Coordination Unit.
It also said that the bone metabolism service, which helps patients with osteoporosis but had been paused for ‘several years’, had been re-established to deal with patients who have been waiting the longest.
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