SCOTTISH LABOUR has condemned long NHS waiting times, claiming they are 800 times more common than in England.

The party said its own analysis of publicly available figures showed Scotland had nearly 15,000 ongoing waits of two years or more, an average of one case per 367 people.

It said that NHS England reported having 182 waits of more than two years, about one for every 317,000 people.

The figures relate to those waiting more than two years on NHS outpatient, inpatient or day waiting lists.

Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Thousands of Scots have been stuck in limbo for years on end, desperately waiting for the help they need, while others have emptied their savings accounts or gone into debt paying for private care.

“The SNP has no excuses — this government has broken the founding promise of our NHS and failed to ensure Scots have a health service they can count on in their hour of need.

“But Scottish Labour has a plan to rebuild our NHS and end the two-tier system the SNP has created.”

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “The Scottish government remains laser-focused on reducing waiting times.

“In the latest quarter, 64.6 per cent of new outpatient appointments were attended within 12 weeks — an improvement from 61.3 per cent in the previous period.

“We are investing more than £110 million this year to make it easier and faster for patients to get access to the treatment they need.”

The SNP claimed the targeted funding will deliver more than 213,000 extra procedures and appointments this year.