NHS24 takes over 20 minutes on average to answer calls

Anas Sarwar has insisted a “fundamental redesign” of NHS care is needed to make health services “fit for the future” – as a new report revealed those seeking help from NHS24 wait an average of more than 20 minutes for their call to be answered.

The report by retired consultant surgeon and former president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Mike McKirdy, revealed call answering times for the helpline have “increased sharply” – saying this is “indicative of a system under immense pressure”.

His examination of the state of the NHS said that average answering times for NHS24 had increased from just nine seconds in 2014-15 to 22.5 minutes in 2024-25.

The paper stated: “This may be partly due to long waiting times and a failure to meet demand elsewhere in the system, but it raises concerns as to whether the service is still reliably providing patients with the timely medical advice it is supposed to deliver.”

The increase was revealed as the Scottish Labour leader warned that as it stands the “very existence” of the NHS is now “in danger”, insisting that a “fundamental redesign” of care is now needed to make the service “fit for the future”.

He spoke out as his party launched Mr McKirdy’s report on the “challenges” facing the next Scottish Government on healthcare.

Labour is seeking to make health a key battleground in the run-up to next May’s Holyrood election.

In his independent paper, retired medic Mr McKirdy concluded the NHS in Scotland “is still trying to deliver the same services under an outdated model of care”.

As a result he said the health service had adopted a “short-term, fire-fighting approach that is not delivering the long-term improvements that Scotland needs”.

Mr McKirdy also made clear: “The challenges in the NHS were not caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The inability of the system to deliver was evident before 2020 across a number of performance measures.”

But he insisted that the health service had “not adequately adapted to changing need and societal development”, adding that “this failure has led to a decline in the ability of the system to deliver for the Scottish people”.

His report highlighted how, since 2007, the year the SNP came to power, more than 130 major health strategies have been published – the equivalent of one every seven weeks.

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of patients are opting to go private for healthcare. Private admissions went up by 55% since 2019-20 – with the report claiming this is “effectively creating a two-tier healthcare system”.

Looking at the state of the NHS, Mr McKirdy said: “Unsurprisingly, a health and care system that was unable to meet demand prior to the pandemic has proven incapable of recovering.”

Overall, he concluded that challenges facing the NHS are “not insurmountable” but said that a “fundamentally new approach” is needed, calling for “serious change” in both the “direction and leadership of the health service”.

Sarwar said: “Our NHS is our most precious public service, but as doctors themselves have warned, the very existence of the service is in danger.

“The situation uncovered by the McKirdy Report is one of governmental failure, with Scots paying the price.”

He added: “This landmark report shows the SNP’s utter failure to recover from the impact of the pandemic is because of their inability to modernise our NHS for the future.

“Enough is enough – we don’t need more undelivered strategies, we need bold and meaningful change to fix our NHS and to tackle the waiting list crisis.”

Speaking as the paper was launched at the Golden Jubilee hospital in Clydebank, the Scottish Labour leader added: “I think we are beyond the stage of a sticking plaster approach for our National Health Service.

“I think it does require a fundamental rewiring and a fundamental redesign if we are to make it fit for the future.”

Health secretary Neil Gray responded: “The evidence is clear that our NHS is turning a corner, with downward trends across nearly all waiting list indicators.

“Long waits over a year have reduced for five consecutive months, diagnostic tests have increased significantly, GP numbers are rising, and operations are at their highest level since January 2020.

“To suggest otherwise does a huge disservice to our outstanding NHS staff who are delivering thousands more appointments and procedures this year, supported by our record £21.7 billion investment.”

The health secretary continued: “With NHS workforce numbers at an all-time high, we’ve launched our once-in-a-generation Future Medical Workforce project to shape future reforms in training, recruitment and workforce planning.

“Health is at the heart of our commitment to improve public services. We plan to invest in a range of reforms, including shifting care from acute to community settings, dedicating £531 million to general practice over three years and expanding Hospital at Home capacity to 2,000 beds by the end of 2026.”