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 30 June 2023 and the lengths of wait experienced. 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 shown here and in previous publications do not reflect the actual number of individuals involved. The terminology has therefore been updated to prevent misinterpretation of statistics. Please refer to the full report for further detail.

Main points

This dual axis trend chart shows the monthly trend in the waiting list size for each of the eight key diagnostic tests individually and the percentage of waits ongoing for six weeks or less for all eight tests combined between 31 March 2019 and 30 June 2023. There are two vertical dotted lines depicting when COVID-19 emergency measures were introduced (March 2020) and when these were lifted (April 2022). 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, with non-obstetric ultrasound accounting for over 40% of all ongoing waits for the eight key diagnostic tests combined. 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, initially across all tests, but in 2021 this was driven by accelerating growth in the radiology waiting list, particularly for non-obstetric ultrasound. The rate of growth generally slowed for most tests at 31 March 2022, and the number of ongoing waits for all eight tests combined decreased between 30 September 2022 and 31 January 2023. However, there was an increase recorded at 28 February and again at 31 March 2023, and after a decrease at 30 April, the waiting list continued to climb throughout the latest quarter. At the latest quarter-end, the eight key tests were inversely proportional, with four of the eight key tests having increased (upper endoscopy, lower endoscopy, cystoscopy, and non-obstetric ultrasound) while the other four decreased (colonoscopy, CT, MRI and barium studies), resulting in levels that are consistent with the previous quarter. An increase in ongoing waits for a non-obstetric ultrasound was the main driver behind this, given the volume of waits for this test compared to the other tests. After the resumption of services in summer 2020, the percentage of waits that were ongoing for six weeks or less for the eight key tests combined steadily improved. Then as the second wave of COVID-19 emerged over the winter and capacity for non-urgent care was reduced across many parts of the country, improvement in the performance measure slowed down and dipped, most noticeably, in January 2021. Since then, performance against the six-week standard was on an upward trend, reaching 64.1% at 31 May 2021, the highest rate observed since the pandemic began to impact services. The rate subsequently followed a largely downward trend but has fluctuated in recent quarters. After reaching 53% at 28 February 2023, the percentage decreased to 49.9% at 30 June 2023. This latest figure remains markedly down on the 81.6% reported in the same quarter in 2019.

Close

Trend in the waiting list size and percentage of waits ongoing for six weeks or less at month-end, by test, NHSScotland, 30 March 2019 to 30 June 2023

At 30 June 2023:

• The total waiting list size (the number of ongoing waits) for the eight key tests combined was 152,606. This figure remains much higher than prior to when the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact service provision in March 2020. For instance, at the end of February 2020 there were 88,301 ongoing waits.
• The list size grew slightly, with an extra 39 waits compared to the position at the end of March. This was largely a consequence of increases in the number of ongoing waits for an upper endoscopy (+882), lower endoscopy (+349) and non-obstetric ultrasound (+1,347) offset by decreases in the number of waits for MRI (-1,510) and CT (-982).
• Of these, 50% had not exceeded the six-week standard. However, there was variation across tests, with 25% of waits for a lower endoscopy ongoing for six weeks or less compared to 82% for a barium study.
• The number of waits that had been ongoing for over 26 weeks increased from 13,670 at the end of March to 14,552 (+6%). Nevertheless, there was a reduction in the number of waits that were ongoing over 52 weeks, reducing from 3,773 to 3,624 (-4%).
• Radiology tests account for the most waits 26-52 weeks (57%) while endoscopy tests account for the most waits over 52 weeks (97%). However, there is variation between tests. For example, the number of waits for a non-obstetric ultrasound test that had been ongoing over 26 weeks increased by 21% (+779) while those for a CT test increased only slightly by 1% (+9). Similarly, the number of ongoing waits for an upper endoscopy that had been ongoing over 52 weeks increased by 14% (+105), while those for a colonoscopy decreased by 12% (-207).

Background

These statistics continue to be impacted by COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.

Further background information on NHS Scotland Waiting Times, including diagnostics, can be found in CEL 33 (2012).

Further information

For more information see the Waiting Times section of our website. PHS have developed an animation, with further explanations of how waiting times are calculated. A more detailed report can be accessed via the following link: Diagnostic Tests and Investigations.

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 November 2023.

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.