Exclusive:'Frustration': Urology waiting time targets missed across the country

Waiting times for inpatient and outpatient urology appointments have increased since 2020 in almost all areas of Scotland, with waits of up to 11 months in some parts of the country over the last five years.

NHS Lothian is also now running less urology appointments now than it did in 2020 - despite every other health board increasing the number of appointments available each year.

Professor Alan McNeill is a consultant urological surgeon and trustee of Prostate Scotland - until this spring, he also worked as a urologist at NHS Lothian.

He said: “We are seeing more people self-funding in private clinics because they are having to wait so long for an appointment and that is causing concern and anxiety.

“Those who are able to, and bear in mind many are unable to, are taking matters into their own hands and I don’t believe as a society that is what we should be aspiring to.”

He added this is causing “frustration” for both patients and frontline clinicians, and said: “It depends on the condition but for most it will not get better and it may get worse.”

Dame Jackie Ballie MSP, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, said: “Nowhere is the SNP’s failure clearer than in the state of Scotland’s NHS. The reality is that John Swinney and the SNP have no meaningful plan, no strategy, and no ideas to save our NHS.

“It is shameful that thousands of Scots are having to face agonising waits to get treatment, while the NHS workforce is being pushed to breaking point.”

Ms Baillie says her party would cut waiting times and make clearing the NHS backlog their “day one priority”.

The government’s standards say patients should wait no more than 12 weeks for a new outpatient appointment (84 days) and no more than 18 weeks for an appointment, diagnostic test and treatment (126 days).

At NHS Ayrshire and Arran, outpatient waiting times have increased from 134 days in 2020 to 247 in 2025.

For inpatients the average wait time has increased from 105 days to 150 days. This is however down from a high of 334 days in 2023.

The number of people on the waiting list in Ayrshire and Arran has also increased from 6,788 in 2020 to 9,246 in 2024. The number of appointments being offered increased from 25,595 in 2020 to 26,300 in 2024.

At NHS Borders, outpatient waiting times rose from 59 days in 2020 to 124 in 2024. Similarly, inpatient waiting times increased from 99 days in 2020 to 259 in 2024.

The number of people on the waiting list soared from 300 in 2020 to 817 in 2024. The number of appointments increased from 1,222 in 2020 to 1,947 in 2024.

At NHS Dumfries and Galloway the average waiting time increased from 53 days for outpatients and 58 days for inpatients in 2020 to 101 days and 54 days respectively in 2024.

The size of the waiting list increased from 15,401 outpatients and 7,149 inpatients in 2020 to 26,348 outpatients and 9,502 inpatients by January 2025. The number of appointments increased from 3,433 outpatients in 2020 to 6,659 in 2024.

NHS Fife recorded an increase in waiting times from 52 days in 2020 to 100 in 2024.

The number of patients on the waiting list increased from 1,215 in 2020 to 2,820 in 2024. The number of appointments also increased from 3,422 in 2020 to 4,394 in 2024 - this is down from a high of 4,847 in 2023.

At NHS Forth Valley, outpatient waiting times increased from 78 days in 2020 to 98 in 2025, and for inpatients it increased from 86 days in 2020 to 110 in 2025.

The size of the waiting list in Forth Valley also increased from 2,832 outpatients and 719 inpatients in 2020 to 4,900 and 1,249 respectively in 2024. The number of outpatient appointments increased from 2,249 in 2020 to 5,002 in 2024.

NHS Lanarkshire saw average waiting times increase from 42 days for outpatients and 100 days for inpatients in 2020 to 246 days and 486 days respectively. This health board recorded an average inpatient waiting time for 486 days in 2023 - almost 11 months.

The number of patients on the urology waiting list increased from 834 outpatients and 899 inpatients in 2020 to 2,999 outpatients and 1,402 inpatients by 2024. The number of appointments also increased from 3,309 in 2020 to 6,777 in 2024.

Meanwhile at NHS Lothian the waiting times increased from 16 weeks for inpatients and 12 weeks for outpatients in 2020 to 28 weeks and 37 weeks respectively in 2025.

The total number of patients on the waiting list increased from 4,473 in 2020 to 6,068 in 2025 - however, the health board is offering less urology appointments than it did five years ago. The total number of patients seen decreased from 2,232 inpatients and 8,423 outpatients in 2020 to 1,609 inpatients and 3,529 outpatients in 2024.

At NHS Tayside the average wait increased from 93 days for outpatients and 141 days for inpatients in 2020 to 109 days and 125 days respectively in 2025.

The number of people on the waiting list increased from 2,438 in 2020 to 4,153 in 2025. The number of appointments increased year-on-year from 12,385 in 2020 to 15,140.

At NHS Western Isles, patients are seen by NHS Highland. However the average waiting time increased from 16 weeks in 2020 to 33 weeks in 2024. It also increased from 5.2 weeks to 6.7 weeks for urgent referrals, and from 3.3 weeks to 5.1 weeks for an urgent referral for suspected cancer.

The only health board to see their waiting times decrease was NHS Grampian, which also covers urology patients at NHS Orkney.

NHS Grampian’s waiting times decreased from 439 days for outpatients and 113 days for inpatients, to 188 days for outpatients and 128 days for inpatients - still above the government targets.

The size of the waiting list increased from 3,855 in 2020 to 5,648 in 2025. The number of appointments available also increased from 15,078 in 2020 to 23,668 in 2024.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We are focused on bringing down waiting times and to do this the NHS will be delivering 213,000 additional appointments and procedures this year.

“We are targeting investment in speciality areas with the longest waits - this includes an allocation of £6 million for urology.

“This funding will recruit additional consultants, nurse specialists, anaesthetists, and other key clinical roles to bolster workforce capacity and resilience, as well as increase theatre sessions, including evening and weekend working.

“In addition, this will deliver diagnostic improvements, such as the establishment of a diagnostic hub in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and TRUS biopsy services in NHS Forth Valley.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde did not respond to Scotland on Sunday’s request by the 20 day time limit.