Scottish ministers accused of 'hoodwinking' public over delayed treatment centres costing more than £36m

Health Secretary Neil Gray confirmed the costs were run up in relation to planned NTCs at five health boards, in response to a parliamentary question by Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie.

The response showed that a total cost of £36,759,038 has been incurred across NHS Ayrshire & Arran (£5,016,600), NHS Grampian (£6,474,000), NHS Lanarkshire (£268,000), NHS Lothian (£12,532,000), and NHS Tayside (£12,468,438), as of November this year.

NTCs are a network of healthcare facilities across the country, designed to provide inpatient care, day case treatment and diagnostic services.

Ministers planned for ten NTCs to deliver at least 40,000 additional elective surgeries, diagnostics, and other procedures per year by next year.

However, the plans have been beset by delays, with a string of other NHS construction projects also paused.

Four of the planned NTCs are up and running, one has been further committed to by the Scottish Government but five remain unbuilt. The £36 million spend relates to costs including for the purchase of properties, designing the buildings, and staffing.

Ministers had hoped the network of treatment centres would help tackle the growing backlog of operations. Figures from this year show there are 559,742 people waiting for a new outpatient appointment in Scotland, with some waiting more than two years.

First Minister John Swinney pledged to bring waiting lists down by providing an extra 150,000 appointments.

Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “Taxpayers have been left to pick up the tab for NTCs, despite patients seeing absolutely no benefit as they have not been built.

“This is further evidence of an SNP government that is hoodwinking voters by making empty promises that ministers fail to keep, with Scots losing out because of the lack of delivery.

“The NTC programme has been beset by delays from day one, but the SNP have been more focused on trying to spin their way out of the situation, rather than taking any responsibility.

“Our health service is in crisis, with thousands of patients having to endure agonising waits for treatment – yet John Swinney and the SNP have absolutely no plan and no strategy to fix things.”

Mr Gray responded to the criticism saying: “Our plan for the NHS is working, with overall waits coming down for four months in a row, thousands more operations and procedures taking place and a record number of hip and knee operations performed in the last year.

“Even more people will be seen at our National Treatment Centres this year – 30,000 additional procedures, up from 20,000 last year- and the whole programme is the single biggest increase in planned care capacity ever created in NHS Scotland.

“Our £139 million additional investment this year in NHS infrastructure will further support priority improvements and replacements in Scotland’s NHS estate. We are developing a whole-system NHS infrastructure plan and we await the delivery of the UK budget to understand how this will impact on our capital planning.”