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The number of patients waiting over two years for tests or treatment was higher in Lanarkshire alone than across the entirety of the NHS in England. Official NHS statistics show that there were 257 waits of more than two years in NHS Lanarkshire across inpatient and outpatient cases – more than the 182 in all of England. Labour's Joe Fagan said this week NHS England is "effectively eradicating" two year waits following targeted new investment by the Labour Government elected last year. The MSP candidate said: “Scottish politics isn't working for the Scottish people - and it certainly isn't working for the people of East Kilbride. There were more people waiting over two years for treatment in Lanarkshire alone than across the entirety of the NHS in England. Scotland’s NHS just isn’t improving in the same way as England’s and that isn’t good enough. We deserve better. “There is a practical alternative to having Scots languishing on NHS waiting lists and that's what I'll be fighting for in East Kilbride and across Lanarkshire. It’s time for targeted investment to bring waiting times down. It’s time for the SNP to start getting the basics right or get out the way and make way for a new government that will. “The SNP Government are living in a fantasy land where everything is the garden is rosy and all of Scotland’s problems are someone else's fault. That kind of stupid and complacent politics has been failing Scotland for almost 20 years." Over 87,000 Scots are languishing on NHS waiting lists for tests or treatment – 7,228 patients (diagnostics, inpatient/day-case/outpatient) are currently waiting over a year. As of October 2025, the number of patients in NHS England waiting more than two years for treatment has been “all but eradicated”. This phrase is used in NHS England’s official elective care reform plan, indicating that the figure is now negligible or close to zero. Joe Fagan added: “People's lives and people's futures depend on the Scottish Government fixing the NHS and this SNP Government have shown over the past 18 years that they are utterly incapable of doing it. After 18 years of excuses, change is overdue. “The staff and clinicians at NHS Lanarkshire deserve better. Patients deserve better. East Kilbride deserves better than another five years of excuses and inaction from a failing SNP Government. The fight is on. It's a fight for the future of our town. It's a fight to save our NHS. It's East Kilbride versus the SNP and East Kilbride has got to win.” The Scottish Government was contacted for comment. * Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook ? Head on over and give us a like and share!
