A&E waiting times continue to stagnate

Waiting times in Scotland’s emergency departments continue to stagnate, with just over two thirds seen within the four-hour target, new figures show.

Statistics released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday show 67.4% were seen within four hours in the week up to September 17, up from 66.2% the week before.

The Scottish Government aims for this figure to be at least 95% – a level not seen since the early days of the pandemic.

In the most recent week on record, the number of people waiting over 12 hours dropped from 1,066 to 935, while those waiting more than eight hours fell from 2,886 to 2,635.

Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The Scottish Government is determined to see sustained improvement in emergency department performance.

“Monthly figures show an improving picture with reductions in long waits continuing for four consecutive months.

“We know that weekly performance is still not where we would like it to be, and there continues to be a persistent disparity in performance both between health boards and individual sites.

“We are working closely with the health boards facing the greatest challenges in performance, to improve services for patients and staff and try to drive down long waits.

“This week A&E performance was impacted by a range of factors including higher levels of Covid and associated infection control issues coupled with high occupancy and staffing gaps.

“We know this winter will present a sustained period of pressure for services and we will continue to support local systems to ensure appropriate levels of care are delivered at the right time.”

But Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said with each passing week, the Scottish Government is “continuing to preside over truly awful A&E waiting times”.

“It simply should not be the norm that almost a third of patients have to wait longer than four hours to be seen after arriving at A&E,” he added.

“We know that these excessive delays lead to an avoidable loss of life, yet Michael Matheson – the SNP health secretary – is failing to get on top of this crisis.

“With waiting times continuing to be this bad at the moment – including one in 10 people waiting over eight hours – suffering patients and my dedicated colleagues on the frontline are staring down the prospect of the worst ever winter in the NHS.”