According to Public Health Scotland statistics, the number of planned operations performed in August was the largest monthly total since the beginning of the pandemic.

21,218 operations were carried out, 684 a day. This is an increase of 19 per cent compared to July.

Targets were introduced in July to eliminate the longest waiting times and since then, there has been a focussed effort to tackle the backlogs.

Health secretary Humza Yousaf said: “On top of its emergency activity, our NHS carried out over 21,000 planned operations in August – with the highest daily average number of operations since the start of the pandemic. The scale of activity in the NHS is incredible, with around one operation beginning every two minutes on average. This shows real progress has been made in our recovery journey towards pre-pandemic levels of activity and is a testament to the care that our health service staff deliver for the people of Scotland every single day.

“We’re making positive steps forward and we are determined to sustain these efforts as we take the necessary steps to prepare the health and social care service for the challenges of winter.

“NHS boards are working to get those who have had treatments or procedures postponed the care they need as quickly as possible. Throughout the pandemic, they have ensured that urgent, maternity and vital cancer services continue as usual.”