Nearly 3000 of those patients were from Tayside, with the rest coming from NHS boards in Fife, Grampian and Forth Valley.

But a question mark hangs over the future of the unit which was set up before the SNP took over the Scottish Government.

After a meeting of NHS Tayside’s delivery unit committee in Murray Royal Hospital, Perth, today, chief operating officer Gerry Marr refused to be drawn on matters which he considered were political arguments and should be decided by politicians.

Those arguments which crudely come down to whether the service should be provided with private involvement or not will be decided elsewhere.

But Mr Marr was very clear there was a need for the unit to continue beyond January 2010, when the current contract with the private firm ends.

No decision has yet been taken whether that arrangement will be extended.

Asked by non-executive director Ian Wightman whether the “reality” was the health authority would not have met its waiting time targets without the unit, Mr Marr said, “Yes is the simple answer.”

Non-executive director John Angus said it was his personal view the health authority could not afford to continue without the unit which brought in £15 million of investment for the three-year period of the contract.

Mr Marr said he had already started “active discussions” with civil servants to plan for the future of the unit beyond next January. The “primary priority” was to sustain the £5 million a year investment on a recurring basis.

An option appraisal outlining the possible ways forward is to be prepared and presented to senior civil servants by the end of April.

There are a number of options including extending with the current contract with the private provider or providing everything directly by the NHS with NHS Tayside operating the SRTC.

Mr Marr said he and senior civil servants would prefer the unit continued to run as a service for several health boards and he would be looking to draw a business case for the SRTC to become “a permanent feature.”