The waiting times for Lanarkshire women attending follow-up cervical screening tests have been slammed as "unacceptable" by an MSP.
Monica Lennon is now calling on the Scottish Government to take urgent action on giving locals peace of mind when they're required to go for a colposcopy assessment.
She says they should not be left hanging in "emotional limbo".
A recent Freedom of Information request revealed waiting times have increased in recent years with one woman having to wait over four months for a vital appointment.
The average wait for a colposcopy, a follow-up procedure following abnormal cells being found during routine smear tests, in the NHS Lanarkshire health board area was 39 days in 2021 – up 10 days from 2018.
Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland Ms Lennon believes more can be done to help local women feeling distressed during their wait to be seen again following their cervical smear appointments.
In 2018, the longest wait for the follow-up appointments was 101 days – however, this had risen to 212 days in 2021.
Ms Lennon told Lanarkshire Live : “Women in Lanarkshire should not be left in emotional limbo worrying about the potential consequences of changes to cervical cells, and it is unacceptable that waiting times for appointments that could give them peace of mind appear to be getting longer and longer.
“That one woman waited over seven months for a much-needed colposcopy appointment is shocking.
“When women are, rightly, being encouraged to attend cervical smear appointments, the Scottish Government must be doing everything it can to reduce their distress if follow-up appointments are required, and that certainly isn’t the case at the moment.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Earlier this summer we introduced a new set of targets to address the backlog of planned care.
"These ambitious targets are just part of the wider £1bn NHS recovery plan.
“Plans have been developed by each local health Board to increase capacity, workforce and activity.
"Six mobile MRI and five mobile CT scanners will support getting people the diagnostic procedures they have been assessed as needing.”
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