MORE than 70,000 patients have been waiting for over a year for NHS treatment at Scottish hospitals or an outpatient appointment, damning figures revealed today.

The number of people on NHS Scotland waiting lists, either for treatment, a hospital appointment or diagnostic testing, has now reached almost 750,000.

Official figures from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show that at the end of June, there were 139,584 people waiting to be admitted to hospital for treatment.

A total of 451,020 were on the list for an outpatient appointment.

Separate figures published by PHS last week show that there were 157,289 patients waiting for key diagnostic tests, taking the combined total to 747,893.

Of those waiting for hospital treatment, the data showed 35,359 have been on the list for more than 52 weeks, with the total waiting this long up from 30,992 at the end of March.

Patients are waiting for more than a year despite the Scottish government having introduced a legally binding guarantee that treatment will begin within 12 weeks of it being agreed.

PHS warned that “both the number of referrals for treatment and the number of admissions have yet to return fully to pre-pandemic levels.”

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “The SNP’s missing in action Health Minister [Humza Yousaf] has plunged almost every aspect of our NHS into chaos just before winter starts to bite.

“Make no mistake, this incompetent Health Secretary’s failure to support our NHS and those who work in it will lead to lives being lost this winter.”

Mr Yousaf said: “These statistics show that those patients with the greatest needs were treated quickest.

“However, this has led to a growing number of less clinically urgent patients waiting longer for treatment as a result of the pandemic.”