Alarm bells were ringing for the health service last night as it was revealed that more than half a million Scots are on NHS waiting lists.
The Scottish Government has been urged to get to grips with the huge backlog in procedures caused by the pandemic as fears grow that rising Covid case numbers could lead to even longer delays for thousands.
Mick Moloney is among the thousands of Scots who were already on an NHS waiting list long before the Covid pandemic struck in early 2020.
The 64-year-old, who lives in Aberdeenshire, needs two knee replacement operations to help him get back to full mobility.
He describes himself as once being “very active” who enjoyed walking his dog up to 10 miles every day.
Mick has now been waiting on treatment for three years and considers himself “a bit forgotten” by health bosses at NHS Grampian.
He told BBC Scotland that the pain from legs is so bad he has trouble sleeping and regularly wakes up tired.
He said: “I did lots of gardening, I was a very keen dog walker, maybe 10 miles a day, just generally always on the go.
“The dog walking has stopped, the gardening is much more limited, you can’t just go at it all day long.
“My life has just been changed dramatically. You plan around pain.”
While there are fewer Covid patients in hospitals than at the beginning of the year, they still occupy beds that would otherwise have been given to others.
And it’s non-life-threatening procedures that health bosses ditch first when services come under strain.
Mick accepts the pandemic has caused disruption for the health service but said life for patients such as himself was now going “backwards”.
He added: “It changes your life completely. It’s a constant ache. You end up walking badly. It’s a complete nightmare.
“I know Covid has taken over the world but there’s me and many thousands like me just going backwards.”
