Patients could be sent to England or private hospitals for treatment under Labour

Patients could be sent to England or to private clinics for treatment if Scottish Labour wins next year’s Holyrood election.

Party leader Anas Sarwar says he will do whatever it takes to clear the NHS waiting list backlog and will make the target his number one priority if he becomes first minister in 2026.

The vow comes as figures from the Scottish Government showed the SNP had exceeded the party’s pledge to deliver 64,000 NHS surgeries and procedures in the past year.

Ahead of the annual Scottish Labour Party conference staring in Glasgow on Friday, Mr Sarwar said a Labour government would declare a national waiting times emergency and will “rip up bureaucracy”.

Staff on a NHS hospital ward. | PA

This includes “using all available capacity in Scotland”, including healthcare facilities elsewhere in the UK and the private sector.

Labour’s plan also includes incentivising health boards to reduce backlogs instead of protecting budgets, and introducing a new funding model so health boards are paid based on the amount of care they deliver.

Mr Sarwar said: “Vital capacity is going unused and 50,000 fewer operations are being scheduled every year - that cannot continue. A patient in Glasgow could be forced to wait a year for treatment when they could be seen within weeks in Tayside - that cannot continue.

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“This is a national emergency and we will use every tool available to ensure people get the care they need when they need it. Under our plans, patients will come first - not outdated systems or managerial red tape.

“To deal with this national emergency, we will use capacity wherever it is, even if it means travelling to other parts of the country or using private sector capacity to cut waiting times and save lives.”

Figures separately showed the SNP Government had exceeded its pledge to carry out 64,000 surgeries and procedures by the end of next month. A total of 75,500 NHS surgeries and procedures were carried out between April last year and January, meaning an extra 11,500 patients were seen than what the SNP had originally pledged.

This includes 56,500 diagnostic procedures, 9,200 surgeries and 9,800 outpatient appointments.

Between April and September last year, there was a 44 per cent fall in imaging waits at NHS Fife, a 22 per cent decrease in urology waits at NHS Forth Valley, a 19 per cent drop in ear, nose and throat waits at NHS Highland, a 15 per cent fall in ophthalmology waits at NHS Lanarkshire, and a 10 per cent decrease in general surgery waits at NHS Lothian.

Nationally there was a 7.5 per cent reduction in imaging waiting lists and a 7.3 per cent reduction in scopes waiting lists. The Scottish Government said this was due to a £30 million investment that targeted inpatient and day case waiting lists.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Our plan is delivering and we are seeing progress across a number of speciality areas.

Health Secretary Neil Gray

“This is a good start. However, we know many people are still waiting too long.”

Earlier this week Mr Sarwar pledged to end the 8am rush for a GP appointment by ensuring everyone could see a GP within 48 hours, if he wins the 2026 Holyrood election.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar | Press Association.

However, the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland said this goal would be “almost impossible” to deliver. Dr Chris Provan, chair of the college, said: “It is clear that the current pressures facing general practice are not sustainable.”