The Scottish National Party government faces fierce accusations of deceiving the public after it emerged that crucial data on a key NHS waiting times pledge will not be published until after the upcoming Holyrood election.
Pledge and Publication Date at Centre of Row
First Minister John Swinney and Health Secretary Neil Gray have repeatedly vowed to eradicate all treatment waits of over one year by March 2026. However, official statistics showing whether this target has been met are scheduled for release on 26 May 2026, nearly three weeks after voters go to the polls on 7 May.
The revelation came from an obscure written parliamentary answer, in which Mr Gray confirmed the publication schedule. This has ignited a political storm, with opposition parties branding the delay a deliberate attempt to hide potential failure from the electorate.
Opposition Fury and Auditor's Warning
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton led the criticism, stating: "The SNP are conning patients and trying to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone waiting for care." He accused the government of announcing targets with fanfare but delaying unfavourable results to protect their pre-election image.
Scottish Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, called it an "embarrassing admission" that the SNP never intended the pledge to be a meaningful target, citing their record of "failure to support our NHS".
The row follows a stark warning from Scotland's spending watchdog, the Auditor General Stephen Boyle, who said hitting the target would be "extremely challenging". His report highlighted that at the end of October, 52,319 people were waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment, with a further 27,268 long-waiting day patients or inpatients.
Government Defence and Labour's Damning Report
Despite the backlog, Mr Gray has doubled down on the commitment. When questioned, he insisted the government was "absolutely" working towards the March 2026 goal. A Scottish Government spokesman attempted to deflect blame onto Public Health Scotland, stating it was "misleading" to suggest ministers set the publication date and highlighting that monthly data is released independently.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour has published a report authored by retired senior surgeon Mike McKirdy, a former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. The report warns that the foundations of the health service are eroding under the SNP.
It reveals that since 2007, the SNP has published over 130 major health strategies—roughly one every seven weeks—prioritising plans over delivery. Consequences include NHS staff being 50% more likely to suffer chronic stress, median NHS24 call answer times ballooning from 5 to 22.5 minutes, and a 55% rise in private health admissions since 2019, creating a de facto two-tier system.
Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar said the report showed the SNP's "utter failure" to recover from the pandemic due to an inability to modernise the NHS. In response to the report, Mr Gray claimed the NHS was "turning a corner" with downward trends in waiting lists, and said criticism disserved staff.
