Scotland's hospitals 'cannot cope' as 30,000 cancelled operations due to capacity issues revealed
Scottish Labour has argued the figures show Scotland’s NHS ‘cannot cope’
More than 30,000 NHS appointments have been cancelled in Scotland in the past five years at the last minute over a lack of capacity, new figures have revealed.
The SNP government is facing accusations the NHS “cannot cope” after analysis by Scottish Labour found that over the past five years 31,204 operations were cancelled on the day of the operation or the day before due to capacity or other non-clinical reasons.
The statistics show that, on average per month, more than 500 operations have been cancelled at the eleventh hour, leaving patients awaiting treatment for even longer.
Latest figures show the number of operations planned is still 7.7 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels – meaning that more than 25,000 fewer operations a year are being scheduled before cancellations are even taken into account.
Between May 2021 and April 2026, 120,716 operations were cancelled in total. Of those, 31,204 procedures were cancelled for capacity and non-clinical reasons, amounting to 25.8 per cent of all operations.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson, Jackie Baillie, said: “Too many hospitals in Scotland cannot cope and patients are paying the price.
“After waiting months or even years on end for treatment, it is heartbreaking for patients to be told at the eleventh hour that their operation isn’t going ahead because of capacity issues.
“Patients and staff have been let down for too long on the SNP’s watch.”
She added: “In the election John Swinney and the SNP promised to support our NHS and now they need to deliver.
“We need to support NHS staff and hospitals so they can ramp up the number of operations taking place, reduce last-minute cancellations and cut waiting lists at last.”
Figures for April 2026, published by Public Health Scotland earlier this month, reveals that 8.1 per cent of planned operations were cancelled the day before or on the day the patient was due to be treated, amounting to 1,990 procedures in the space of a single month. This was a very slight increase on April 2025 when 1,981 operations were cancelled at the last minute.
Figures show that over the last 12 months, the cancellation average rate was 8.8 per cent.
Of all planned operations during April 2026, 709, less than three per cent, were cancelled the day before or on the day of treatment by the hospital for clinical reasons, 691 by the patient, 511 by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons, and 79 for other reasons.
Earlier this month, First Minister John Swinney, argued that his government was making “good progress” on NHS waiting times.
He added: “The number of NHS operations is up on the year before, according to latest statistics.
“Long waits are down for 11 months in a row, and we exceeded our target of 150,000 extra appointments and procedures.”
The Scottish government has been contacted for comment.
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