A LOCAL MSP has hit out at the Scottish Government after a 78-year-old Arran man with a heart condition was forced to wait nearly two years to see a cardiac consultant.

During a First Minister’s Questions, West of Scotland Tory MSP Jamie Greene underlined that a constituent on the isle of Arran, known as Mr Randell, had to wait until December 2017 to see a cardiac consultant – 19 months after he was first referred.

Addressing First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Greene said: “He received a letter saying the next available appointment to see a cardiac consultant is in December 2017 and unfortunately that was not a typo. “He wrote to the health minister to complain about the waiting time who said, while she could not intervene on the case it was not because, I quote, ‘we are uninterested’. What does the First Minister have to say to people like Mr Randell who have to wait up to 19 months to see a consultant because I am very interested?”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described Mr Randell’s wait as “unacceptable” and pledged to look at the case in further detail. 

She said: “I am happy to look into the particular circumstances of the case. I say that not to avoid answering the question in the chamber but because it is important in these cases that we get the opportunity to consider the details. On the face of it, that waiting time is completely unacceptable and is one that I would expect the health board to rectify.”

Following the debate, Mr Greene said: “Hospital waiting times should never get to the point where an MSP has to stand up in the parliament and directly ask the First Minister about individual cases. It is simply not acceptable that anybody should be subject to a year and a half wait for a consultant. My constituent was told that they, the government, were not ‘uninterested’ but that they couldn’t help him in his case.”

“I think the Scottish Government should remember that the people of Arran are Scottish taxpayers and therefore entitled to the full services of our NHS. It is simply not acceptable that we even find ourselves in this situation. In this instance the gentleman in question was offered an appointment time which clashed with getting the last ferry back to Arran. He was told that it was a computer generated appointment. Surely they must know that people living on an island can’t simply drive out of the hospital car park back home. It seems incredulous that the system doesn’t take into account your postcode or home location.

Liz Moore, director for Acute Services at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said the health board takes all patient feedback, comments or concerns “very seriously”. 

She added: “We would urge anyone who is unhappy with the care they have received to make contact with us so we can initiate the complaints process. This is the only way we can properly review concerns and involve patients in that process.

“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to any patient who has had to wait more than 12 weeks for a cardiology outpatient appointment.”