Almost 70,000 NHS-funded operations have been carried out in private hospitals since 2007, it has emerged.
Official figures have revealed that 68,175 operations were carried out in the independent sector, an average of almost 6,000 per year since the SNP came to power.
The figures prompted claims the Scottish Government was relying on private hospitals to prop up the NHS, despite Nicola Sturgeon’s previous pledges that the independent sector should only be used “at the margins”.
The Scottish Tories accused the SNP of “startling hypocrisy” and called on the Scottish Government to remove its “ideological blinkers” when it came to using private hospitals for NHS treatments.
The Conservatives have argued for the private sector to be used to ease pressure on the NHS.
Shadow Health Secretary Miles Briggs said: “These figures show that the independent sector has been propping up the SNP’s health service for years.
“That makes the SNP’s position on the matter totally insincere and illogical.
“It is absolutely right that the independent sector is used to help patients access timely treatment. The SNP cannot pretend otherwise.”
But Health Secretary Jeane Freeman’s spokesman said the number private hospital operations were a “small fraction” of the 12 million NHS procedures carried out since 2007.
Her spokesman said: “This is desperate stuff from a Scottish Tory party whose tax plans would slash more than half a billion pounds from money available for Scotland’s NHS.
The spokesman added that Scottish use of the independent sector amounted to 0.6% of Scottish health spending, compared to 7.3% in England.
The row erupted as Ms Freeman announced £32 million to cut waiting times.
The most recent figures indicated almost a third of patients are waiting longer than the legally binding target times for treatment.
