Ministers have warned that it will take years for the health service to get back to normal.
Scotland's health service has been under severe pressure for years but the impact of Covid-19 has seen staff shortages, bed blocking and longer waits for both emergency and outpatient treatment.
The Scottish government's target is for 95% of A&E patients to be discharged or admitted within four hours. The NHS has a limited number of beds so the efficient flow of patients in and out of hospital is critical. Public Health Scotland data also shows the average daily number of beds occupied by people waiting to be discharged in 2021/22 was 51% higher than the previous year - partly because of measures put in place due to Covid-19.
The waiting list number is the highest since statistics were recorded in their current form about a decade ago and almost one in nine had been waiting for more than a year. This is evident in the dramatic drop-off in treatments in the graph shortly after the 2020 lockdown when only patients needing emergency treatment were being seen.
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