Health Secretary Humza Yousaf says a new state-of-the-art hospital facility in Inverness will not be fully operational when it opens next year.
The National Treatment Centre is due to open on April 3 and is expected to carry out more than 1,000 orthopaedic procedures in the first year.
The opening has already been pushed back by 18 months and a third of its staff have yet to be recruited.
Mr Yousaf says the opening of the centre will “rightly” be phased.
Highlands MSP branded ‘Grinch’
Mr Yousaf was asked for an explanation at Holyrood by Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain.
Mr Mountain said there is a risk waiting lists for orthopaedic procedures could rise to seven years, adding long waits will not be reduced until a “full workload is in place”.
Mr Yousaf called the Conservative MSP “a Grinch” and said: “We are on track to deliver 1,350 orthopaedic procedures in the first year of the national treatment centre opening up.
“He should be grateful for the investment the SNP government is making in NHS Highland.”
He acknowledged there are “pressures” on staff recruitment, but said efforts are being made.
Mr Yousaf added: “There will be a phased opening, and rightly so.
“But we will meet the target of 1,350 orthopaedic procedures in the first year.”
Labour MSP Paul O’Kane also questioned whether the government would meet its targets to open the national treatment centre, to which the health secretary branded him a “pantomime villain”.
He said the Labour MSP was not recognising the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the NHS, but added he and the government are focused on reducing the longest waiting times.
New centre to serve the Highland region
The national treatment centre in Inverness is described as a “state of the art” facility.
It will specialise in orthopaedic and ophthalmology healthcare and it will serve all of the Highland region.
All eye care services will be moved to the new site and it will also offer elective orthopaedic care such as basic hip and knee replacements, and surgery on feet, ankles and hands.
It will boast five operating theatres, 24 beds, 13 consultation rooms and an outpatient department.
The Inverness centre is one of 10 national treatment centres being opened by the Scottish Government.
Despite the health secretary saying the centre will not open until April 2023, its website still lists the centre’s opening as the end of 2022.
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