NHS waiting times - diagnostics
Waits for key diagnostic tests

About this release

This quarterly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) relates to the number of ongoing waits for one of eight key diagnostic tests at 31 December 2023 and the lengths of wait experienced so far. The eight key diagnostic tests are upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy (excl. colonoscopy), colonoscopy, cystoscopy, CT scan, MRI scan, barium studies and non-obstetric ultrasound. Please note that individual patients are counted more than once if they are waiting for more than one diagnostic test, so the national statistics released here do not necessarily reflect the actual number of individuals involved. Therefore, the terminology used in the publication is specifically aimed at preventing misinterpretation of statistics. Please refer to the full report for further detail.

Main points

This stacked area chart is plotted on a dual-axis and shows the monthly trend in the waiting list size for each of the eight key diagnostic tests individually, with an additional dark blue line to illustrate the percentage of waits ongoing for six weeks or less for all eight tests combined between 31 March 2019 and 31 December 2023. There are two vertical dotted lines depicting when COVID-19 emergency measures were introduced (March 2020) in NHSScotland and when these were lifted (April 2022). The chart shows that prior to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the waiting list size for each test and the percentage of waits ongoing for six weeks or less for all eight key diagnostic tests combined was relatively stable. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of ongoing waits generally increased, and the percentage of waits within six weeks or less fell across all tests and is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The size of the waiting list continued to climb until reaching a peak at the end of August 2022. After this, the size of the waiting list followed a downward trend until largely stabilising from the beginning of 2023. As can be seen in this chart, the three high-volume radiology tests (non-obstetric ultrasound, CT and MRI) largely occupy the chart, due to the volume of ongoing waits for each.

Close

Trend in ongoing waits and percentage of waits ongoing for six weeks or less at month-end, by test, NHSScotland, 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2023

At 31 December 2023:

• The total waiting list size (number of ongoing waits) for the eight key tests combined was 144,234. This represents a 5% (-7,417) reduction from the previous quarter-end when there were 151,651 ongoing waits, and is the lowest figure observed since quarter-ending December 2021 (141,262). However, this figure remains higher than prior to when the COVID-19 pandemic began to significantly impact service provision. For instance, it remains almost two-thirds (63%) higher than at the end of February 2020 when there were 88,301 waits ongoing.
• This quarterly decrease is largely due to non-obstetric ultrasound, as waits for this test notably decreased compared to the previous quarter-end by 11% (-7,591), with additional reductions in CT (-4%, -925) and MRI (-2%, -403). However, not all tests decreased, with the largest increase observed for cystoscopy (+12%, +600), followed by upper endoscopy (+5%, +485) and colonoscopy (+3%, +445).
• Of these, 48% had not yet exceeded the six-week standard. However, there was variation across tests, with just 24% of waits for a lower endoscopy ongoing for six weeks or less compared to 75% for a barium study.
• The number of waits that had been ongoing over 26 weeks decreased from 16,459 at the end of September to 15,249 (-7%). Similarly, there was a decrease in the number of waits that were ongoing over 52 weeks, decreasing from 3,628 to 3,540 (-2%).
• Radiology tests account for the most waits 26-52 weeks (53%) while endoscopy tests account for the most waits over 52 weeks (84%). However, there is variation between tests. For example, the number of waits that had been ongoing over 26 weeks for a non-obstetric ultrasound decreased by 24% (-1,515) compared to September, while those for a CT increased by 17% (+186). Similarly, the number of ongoing waits over 52 weeks for an upper endoscopy decreased by 33% (-231), while those for a lower endoscopy also decreased but to a much lesser extent, by 3% (-27).

Further information

Data from this publication are available from the publication page on our website.

Open data from this publication is available from the Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data platform.

The next release of this publication will be 28 May 2024.

NHS Performs

A selection of information from this publication is included in NHS Performs. NHS Performs is a website that brings together a range of information on how hospitals and NHS Boards within NHSScotland are performing.