A&E times improve, but third of Scots still not being seen within four hours
The Scottish Government has been accused of presiding over “complete chaos” in the country’s A&E departments after figures showed more than a third of people are not being treated within four hours.
Data from Public Health Scotland showed 63.4% of people in emergency departments were seen within four hours in the week up to February 9 – an increase from 61.6% the previous week.
A&E waiting times – including both planned and unplanned patients – had improved across the board, with 13.6% of people waiting more than eight hours, down from 16.1% the previous week.
Meanwhile, the number of Scots waiting more than 12 hours decreased from 7.8% to 6.2%.
The Scottish Conservatives said thousands of Scots are continuing to wait hours in the country’s A&E departments, which it described as “chaos”.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the party’s health spokesperson, said the waits were “unacceptable”.
He said: “The SNP are continuing to preside over complete chaos in our A&E departments.
“It is wholly unacceptable that over a third of patients are routinely not been seen within the SNP’s target waiting time of four hours.
“These excessive delays in our emergency departments cause huge backlogs in other areas of our NHS, which is already overwhelmed due to a lack of SNP support.
“We know waiting hours on end at A&E also leads to needless loss of life, but still successive SNP health secretaries have failed to act.
“Neil Gray must urgently outline a real recovery plan for our NHS.
“He should start by adopting our common-sense plans to invest in frontline care, rather than pointless bureaucracy to help put an end to these deadly waits.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “On the SNP’s watch, the crisis in A&E is never-ending.
“The SNP’s NHS Recovery Plan has completely failed to improve conditions – if anything, they have gotten worse since it was introduced. Ministers have failed to come up with the solutions staff and patients desperately need.
“We cannot cut A&E waits if we don’t fix the problems in social care and free up space in hospital.
“That’s why, as well as tackling burnout among staff, Scottish Liberal Democrats would help people leave hospital on time through a care package that offers a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.”
The Health Secretary said: “Our A&E departments remain under considerable pressure due to high hospital occupancy.
“Health Boards are working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to manage the flow of patients through A&E and our staff are working to ensure patients are seen as quickly as possible.
“We know some patients are waiting too long for care and this is not good enough – we are determined to drive improvements.
“Our Budget will provide £200 million to address backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages keeping patients in hospital longer than necessary.
“We are determined to shift the balance of care from acute, to community.
“We will help bring about this change by ensuring every A&E front door has a frailty service, so that older people with complex needs can get the care they need.”