How to Reduce NHS Waiting Lists

We support the founding principles of the NHS: universal coverage for all Citizens; services free at the point of delivery; and care based on clinical need rather than the ability to pay.

We have admiration for the men and women who work in the Service, and who deliver quality care.

Lately, however, there have been concerns about the length of waiting lists, which only seem to get longer.

Well, let's be frank. There's an obvious reason for this.

"Universal coverage" was never envisaged to refer to everyone in the world. It was designed for British Citizens – a National service, not an international one!

The sheer demand upon the service, because of all the new people in the country, is one of the main reasons why it can struggle and why waiting lists are getting longer.

Consider the following:

As of 2 years ago, there were "451,122 more patients registered with GP practices in Scotland in 2024 than 2012." (1)

Almost half a million more people registered with a GP in Scotland in only 12 years!

The press release from "Public Health Scotland", 3 Feb 2026, (2) tells us:

"As at 1 January 2026:

• There were 6,058,378 people registered with a GP practice in Scotland.

• Since the last quarter there have been 45,865 newly registered patients in Scotland.

• The number of patients aged 65 and over has increased by 4.6% since January 2024, from 1,139,027 to 1,191,854 in January 2026."

There are a massive 6,058,378 people registered with a doctor in Scotland.

This is considerably higher than the claimed population of Scotland – which, as of June 2024, is 5,546,900. (3)

Now some of this – but not all – will be due to patient registers not being updated regularly as people move away or die.

However, much of this is going to be recent massive levels of immigration into Scotland.

What else can it be?

In 2023-24, the last year for which we have figures, a number of long-term immigrants equivalent to the size of East Kilbride came into Scotland. That is, 76,100.

In the year 2022-23, a massive 90,700 long-term immigrants came in - bigger than the population of Paisley. (4)

These numbers are nation-changing, and in a small population such as ours, these numbers could transform Scotland into a completely different country, in a matter of a few years.

No wonder the NHS is struggling!

What can our Independent Green Voice MSPs say in the face of these clear facts?

And yes, we know that immigration is reserved to Westminster.

However, our IGV MSPs will not be "afraid" to point out the obvious!

The obvious is that if we did not have mass immigration into Scotland at these levels, then it directly follows that waiting lists for the NHS would not be so long.

In that sense, we do not agree with John Swinney and the SNP or the "Scottish Green Party" that Scotland needs immigration at these massive levels.

Furthermore, legal immigrants (who are not British Citizens or Refugees) currently pay an "NHS Surcharge" of a little over £1,000 a year. We advocate that the fee should be much higher.

SOURCES

1. See graphic at greenpracticeperth.co.uk/why-is-your-gp-practice-under-pressure/

2. Public Health Scotland release, 3-2-26 at publichealthscotland.scot/media/37236/20260203-gp-list-sizes-and-demographics-summary_final.pdf

3. National Records of Scotland, "Scotland’s population over 5.5 million people", 14-8-25 at

nrscotland.gov.uk/latest-news/scotland-s-population-over-55-million-people

4. See Fig 3, National Records of Scotland, "Mid-2024 population estimates", 14-8-25 at nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/mid-2024-population-estimates