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More than 10,000 sick kids awaiting treatment in Scotland
Senior Staff Nurse Jayne Farrance (right) holds the hand of a young patient (left) in an ambulance operated by paramedics from the South Thames Retrieval Service, June 16, 2023

MORE than 10,000 sick kids now await treatment in the Scottish NHS as waiting lists have more than doubled over the last 11 years, experts said today.

Looking at data between October 2012 and September 2023, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) found that paediatric waits – excluding surgical, ear nose and throat, cardiology and mental health – rocketed by 114.6 per cent.

Children waiting more than 12 weeks for treatment rose from just 1 per cent to 48.9 per cent.

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