(Image: Robert Perry/Getty)
More than 30,000 NHS waits are still longer than a year despite a Scottish Government pledge to eradicate them by March.
Last year, First Minister John Swinney set a target of March 2026 for no patient to wait longer than a year for their treatment.
New figures show there were 30,130 ongoing waits of more than 52 weeks for either a new outpatient appointment or inpatient and day-case treatment at the end of August.
A Scottish Government report published six months ago admitted the eradication target would be missed but said waiting times of more than 52 weeks had fallen consistently.
But six months after the deadline, ministers have declined to say when waits of more than a year will finally be eradicated.
The new figures also raise questions over a new SNP target to ensure no patient waits longer than 26 weeks for treatment by the end of 2031.
Ministers were asked by Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie why previous waiting-time targets had not been met and when waits of more than a year would finally be eradicated.
But while the Scottish Government pointed to falling waits and increased investment, it did not provide a date for eliminating 52-week waits.
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Analysis by Scottish Labour suggests seven previous commitments to tackle Scotland’s longest waits have not yet been delivered, including targets dating back to 2022.
Those included pledges to end most two-year outpatient waits by August 2022 and most waits of more than 18 months by the end of that year.
Ministers also intended to end one-year outpatient waits in most specialties by March 2023, while similar targets were set for inpatient and day-case treatment.
The Scottish Government announced those targets in July 2022 as part of efforts to tackle the backlog created during the Covid pandemic. They included ending most two-year inpatient and day-case waits by September 2022, 18-month waits by September 2023 and one-year waits by September 2024.
However, figures highlighted by Labour show substantial numbers of waits beyond each of those thresholds remain.
The latest official statistics, published by Public Health Scotland, cover waits up to August 31 and show an estimated 588,073 people were on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day-case waiting list, equivalent to around one in nine of Scotland's population.
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The statistics count waits rather than individual patients in their detailed measures, meaning the same person can appear more than once if they are waiting for multiple appointments or admissions.
The continuing backlog comes despite significant government funding aimed at driving down the longest waits.
In a parliamentary answer to Jackie Baillie, ministers said more than £150 million in additional funding was allocated to health boards in 2025/26 to tackle planned-care waits.
Despite the missed target, there has been substantial progress in reducing the longest waits.
Ahead of the March deadline, the Scottish Government said waits of more than a year had fallen for eight consecutive months from May 2025, with new outpatient waits exceeding a year having more than halved since July 2025 and inpatient and day-case waits falling by almost 30%.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: "Hundreds of thousands of Scots are languishing on NHS waiting lists, with some of them waiting not months but years.
"None of that is the fault of exhausted NHS staff who see the SNP government set targets and then don't deliver the resources or the plan to hit them.
"One target after another has been abandoned over the last five years – but NHS patients and staff cannot afford any more failure.
"The SNP must set out a clear plan to deliver on its current targets and tell us when it will finally end long waits."
She added that ministers should explain how plans to reorganise health boards and local government would improve outcomes for patients.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government allocated more than £150 million additional funding to health boards in 2025/26 to help tackle the longest waits for planned care. This funding delivered thousands more appointments, operations and procedures compared to the previous year and saw waits of over a year decrease by 49% for inpatient and day-case and by 76.7% for new outpatient appointments between 31 July 2025 and 31 July 2026.
“This shows our plan is working and delivering for the people of Scotland and although demand pressures remain, we are seeing the tangible impact of our investment.”