The patients who gave up waiting on the NHS
There are 625,000 people on a hospital waiting list in Scotland. That figure is the highest on record and equivalent to one in nine of the population.
Backlogs have soared since the Covid pandemic and more people faced with long waits are seeking private treatment.
An opinion poll commissioned by BBC Scotland suggests one in five of those who replied said they - or one of their family - had paid for private medical care in the past 12 months.
Most (73%) said they would have preferred to use the NHS.
Linda Fyfe, from South Ayrshire, was among those not prepared to wait for NHS treatment when she needed a hip replacement.
Within months Linda went from living with the "bearable" pain in her right hip to being unable to comfortably move more than 100 yards.
The 75-year-old said the pain changed her whole lifestyle and she could not wait between 12 and 18 months for an operation on the NHS.
The retired social work administrator was quoted £14,000 to go private in the UK but this was more than she could afford. She opted to have the same procedure done in Lithuania for about half the price.
The Kaunas clinic that treated Linda said it sees about 10 people a month from Scotland and more from across the UK."I made the right decision. I couldn't have gone another year or 18 months and it might even have taken longer.
Source: BBC News, 6 March 2023