@ScotArthritis
"Behind every orthopaedic waiting list is someone living with pain, declining mobility and lost independence. The Scottish Government’s leaked Transforming Elective Orthopaedic Care plans must deliver shorter waits and lasting improvements.
"Moving from a 12-week treatment guarantee to a 26-week ambition is a red herring, a distraction. The existing guarantee has yet to be met, bears little resemblance to reality and does nothing to help people waiting more than one to two years for a hip or knee replacement.
"Orthopaedics has been among the worst-affected specialties for waiting times in Scotland for much of the past decade and currently has the largest treatment waiting list of any hospital specialty in every Scottish health board.
"In Arthritis UK’s Scottish Parliament manifesto, we called for the Government to 'relentlessly focus' on bringing down orthopaedic waiting times through a new plan and continued investment. We seem to have the plan and the investment, but the people at the sharp end, patients and healthcare professionals, would still be in the dark without a leaked document.
"Proposals requiring people (and their families) to travel further for surgery raise serious concerns, particularly for older, disabled and rural individuals. Access to treatment is already a postcode lottery. Will there be support? Will there be penalties for saying no to a particular site?
"The real problem runs much deeper than orthopaedic waiting lists." || Lauren Bennie, Head of Arthritis UK Scotland 👇View quoted post on X
