Government challenged as A&E waiting times ‘hurtling in the wrong direction’

Waiting times figures for Scotland’s accident-and-emergency departments are “hurtling even further in the wrong direction”, Labour claimed, as the latest weekly data revealed fewer patients being treated within four hours.

Of the 24,968 people who went to A&E for help in the week ending August 11, less than two-thirds (65.2%) were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within the target time.

While the Scottish Government has the target of having 95% of patients being dealt with within fours, this has not been met since the early days of the pandemic.

New Public Health Scotland figures showed the four-hour target was missed for 8,696 people in the week ending August 11.

That includes 3,018 patients who spent more than eight hours in A&E and 1,251 patients who were there for a minimum of 12 hours.

Health Secretary Neil Gray accepted that performance in A&E “remains below the level we all wish to see”, adding that services were facing “sustained pressure”.

Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie claimed the SNP had “presided over an age of languishing in corridors” for patients.

She said that the Scottish Government “must get a grip and boost our frontline services before winter heaps on even more pressure”.

Ms Baillie added: “Scots going to A&E in their hour of need are already spending hours waiting to be seen, but these worrying figures show that waiting times are hurtling even further in the wrong direction.”

Scottish Conservative deputy health spokeswoman Tess White said: “These unacceptable waiting times are a continued damning indictment of the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s NHS.

“The shocking norm of over a third of patients waiting more than four hours to be seen inevitably leads to more avoidable deaths.

“The fact that the crisis in our A&E departments is so severe at the height of summer means suffering patients and dedicated staff are facing the prospect of a truly terrifying winter.”

Mr Gray said: “Although we have the best performing core A&E departments in the UK, performance remains below the level we all wish to see.”

He told how the Scottish Government was continuing to work with NHS boards to “reduce long waits and support delivery of sustained improvements”.

The Health Secretary added: “Services are facing sustained pressure and this is not unique to Scotland – with similar challenges being felt right across the UK.

“This year’s Scottish Budget provides more than £19.5 billion for health and social care, and an extra £500 million for frontline boards.

“A&E performance is impacted by pressures from across the wider health and social care system – our unscheduled care collaborative programme is taking a whole system approach as we work with boards to deliver sustained improvements.”