HELEN McArdle’s article “Only £30m of £300m waiting list fund spent as NHS failing to cut patient backlogs” (The Herald, October 16) is confirmation of the sheer scale of the challenge facing our local health boards and the Scottish Government. Add to that the fact that musculoskeletal disorders, which encompass problems that affect bones, joints and muscles - like arthritis - will remain one of the leading causes of disease and injury in Scotland over the next 20 years according to Public Health Scotland, and we’re in trouble. Back in October 2023, the nation was promised £300m to tackle Scotland’s waiting lists.
In April 2024, the first tranche of £30m was released and Versus Arthritis learned that approximately £10m would be allocated to trauma and orthopaedics, the single largest portion of Scotland’s waiting lists. The Herald’s FoI confirms a smaller sum of £7.16m.
The clock is ticking. We’re another year on. Waits in excess of one and two years continue and we’re seeing an alarming increase in long waits for outpatient appointments.
These waits steal lives ("Longer A&E stays see hip patients 'more likely to die'", The Herald, October 9). It is unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of people with arthritis are being left in debilitating pain, unable to work, their lives on hold and their mental and physical health deteriorating. Frankly, it is an outrage it has gone on for so long.
Not only is there an urgent need for trauma and orthopaedic trea.