Mr. Robert Watt:

Someone will have the precise numbers, but approximately 500,000 people are waiting for outpatient consultations and approximately 85,000 people are on waiting lists for procedures. There are a few hundred thousand on community waiting lists as well. The figure is approximately 500,000. The target we referenced is the number of people waiting more than 12 weeks for an outpatient consultation or more than ten weeks for a procedure. Those numbers are still unacceptably high but are a good deal lower than the overall headline number. We have seen a very significant reduction in waiting lists in 2022 and 2023. We are also seeing a reduction in the average period people are waiting for services.

This is in a context where demand has grown very significantly for two reasons. There is a post-Covid effect where there was delayed treatment and people delayed turning up with their different conditions. We have seen that effect. There is also the demographic issue, which is driving demand for a whole variety of services. There are different elements to the waiting list issue. We have seen some improvement. We have a very detailed plan to drive that improvement this year.