WIREDGOV

‘Our plan is delivering’ – Health Secretary welcomes new figures.

New figures show the number of operations carried out in the 12 months to January 2026 increased by 6.1% compared to the same period the year before.

New statistics from Public Health Scotland show a total of 276,118 operations were performed during the last 12 months, while 756 operations were carried out per day; an increase from 713 for year ending January 2025.

This comes on the back of new waiting times statistics which show waits of over a year have decreased for 8 consecutive months – with new outpatient waits of more than 52 weeks more than halving since July 2025 and waits of over a year reducing by almost 30% for inpatient/day-case procedures in the same period.

Health Secretary Neil Gray yesterday said:

“These new figures show that our plan is delivering for Scotland – I am pleased to see sustained and continued improvement in the number of operations carried out, despite on-going pressures and the adverse weather seen over Winter which has impacted activity.

“I thank all NHS staff for their continued hard work – they are driving this progress and these figures are further evidence that our NHS is turning a corner.

“We are seeing waits of over a year come down month after month and we are delivering thousands more operations, procedures and appointments compared to last year - we are determined to build on this momentum.”

Background

Cancelled Planned Operations statistics

Stage of Treatment Waiting Times