Nearly one in five Scots who phoned NHS 24 last year ultimately abandoned their calls, shocking new figures uncovered by the Scottish Conservatives reveal today.
Stats obtained through a Freedom of Information request from the party show that more than 317,000 calls to the service were abandoned in 2024.
Shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane says it is another damning example of the SNP’s failure to invest in frontline NHS services.
He says that patients who did manage to get through faced “appalling” waits, with individuals waiting over four hours in both July and September.
During the peak winter period in December, patients were waiting on average for 42 minutes to be connected.
Dr Gulhane said that the figures were also a reflection of the SNP’s failure to tackle GP shortages and A&E waiting times.
He has urged SNP ministers to finally ensure money gets to frontline services like NHS 24, rather than being squandered on pointless bureaucracy.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for health Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “It is shocking that one in five Scots were forced to abandon their calls to NHS 24.
“And for those patients fortunate enough to get through, they had to endure truly appalling waits.
“Even in summer, patients were having to wait four hours to get through and at the height of winter, the SNP’s failure to support NHS 24 clearly pushed the service beyond breaking point.
“These figures are also a reflection of the desperate shortage of GPs and the chronic A&E waiting times, which John Swinney has no credible plan to tackle – as we saw from this week’s threadbare Programme for Government.
“These stats must be an urgent wake-up call for SNP ministers to finally ensure money is getting to where it is needed most in our NHS, rather than being squandered on pointless bureaucracy.”
Notes to editor
Nearly 20% of NHS 24 callers seeking urgent medical advice in 2024 were unable to get through. According to a series of freedom of information requests obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, new figures reveal that in 2024 alone, over 317,000 calls (19.2%) were abandoned, meaning nearly one in five people seeking urgent medical advice never got through. The problem peaked in December 2024, when over 26% of calls were abandoned, likely due to overwhelming demand and staffing shortages during the busy winter season. (Freedom of Information Requests, Scottish Conservative Research, 10 March 2025, available on request).
NHS 24 wait times were alarmingly high in 2024. The longest individual wait in 2024 stretched over four hours (4:04:24) in September, with similar extreme delays recorded in July and October. While the longest wait times improved slightly in January (2:39:42) and February 2025 (2:18:46), they remain unacceptably high, leaving many patients without timely support. (Freedom of Information Requests, Scottish Conservative Research, 10 March 2025, available on request)