SNP demand waiting list probe

The figures were released on a website

Scotland's health minister has been accused of attempting to "bury" statistics showing rising National Health Service waiting lists.

And the Scottish National Party has called for an investigation into its claims that Susan Deacon had politicised the civil service over the way statements are released.

Its health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon has written to Muir Russell, the head of the civil service in Scotland, asking him to probe the allegations.

But a spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive said claims the waiting lists had been hidden was "without foundation".

Nicola Sturgeon wants an investigation

The allegations stem from statistics which showed that the number of people waiting for operations had risen by 11,187 to 86,540 between September 1999 and September this year.

The figures were released on the Information and Statistics Division's Scottish Health Information online website.

They were not mentioned on the executive's own pages or publicised in a press release.

Ms Sturgeon said: "It is obvious that Labour wanted to bury this information, which shames the government.

"But the health minister, Susan Deacon, has a duty to the people and parliament of Scotland to disclose information in an open and consistent manner, which she has totally failed to do."

'Serious matter'

Ms Sturgeon said Ms Deacon's conduct should be investigated to see if she was using the civil service to benefit her party.

"Using the civil service to issue news releases which are good for Labour - and then failing to put the very same information into the public domain when it is bad for Labour - is a clear example of party political considerations determining ministerial output," she claimed.

"That is an extremely serious matter, which must be investigated."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "The suggestion that the Scottish Executive has hidden the information is totally without foundation.

Susan Deacon: Scottish Health Minister

"Waiting lists and waiting times figures are released every quarter and published on the Information and Statistics Division website.

"In addition, whenever there have been significant changes to these figures the executive has issued a statement to the media."

And the spokeswoman pointed out that the most recent statistics showed a fall.

The quarterly figures for the three months to September 2000 showed a drop of nine cases over the period.

The executive has stressed that it is committed to reducing both the number of people on waiting lists and the length of time they are having to wait.