More than 2,500 Scots spent 12 hours or more in A&E over Christmas

More than 2,500 Scots spend 12 hours or more in accident and emergency in the last week of 2022 – a record high for the number of patients waiting this long.

The week ending January 1 also saw almost 5,000 patients have to wait more than eight hours to be treated – with this again a record.

The figures – branded “truly terrifying” by Scottish Tories –  came after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned that the country’s hospitals are “almost completely full”.

While the Scottish Government has set the target of having 95% of patients in A&E either admitted, transferred of discharged within four hours, the final week of December 2022 saw just 56% of patients dealt with within this time – the second worst performance ever.

• 24,685 patients attended A&E departments
• 10,866 waited more than fours to be admitted, transferred or discharged
• 4,977 waited more than eight hours to be admitted, transferred or discharged
• 2,506 waited 12 hours or more to be admitted, transferred or discharged

Of the 24,685 patients who went to A&E over the course of that week, 10,866 were there for more than four hours, Public Health Scotland data showed.

This included 4,977 who were there for more than eight hours, and 2,506 people who spent at least half a day in the emergency room.

In three health board areas: NHS Forth Valley, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Fife; the four-hour target was missed for more than half of all patients, with NHS Forth Valley seeing 42.8% within this time, compared to 44.6% in NHS Lanarkshire and 49.5% in NHS Fife.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, described the figures as “truly terrifying”, as he demanded Health Secretary Humza Yousaf “should be sacked immediately”.

“How much more damning evidence does the First Minister need to accept that the hapless health secretary is out of his depth,” Dr Gulhane said.

He insisted: “Humza Yousaf is presiding over carnage in our A&E departments, with patients waiting longer and longer to be treated.

“That has been typical of his lack of leadership as the crisis has deepened in Scotland’s A&E departments during his tenure.”

The Tory MSP, who worked as a GP during the Holyrood recess, continued: “My burnt out colleagues simply cannot give any more than they are currently doing for suffering patients.

“They are being let down at every turn by Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plans which have failed despite his desperate claims to the contrary.”

He added: “It is astonishing that Nicola Sturgeon believes Humza Yousaf is doing a very good job when he is responsible for horrendous statistics like this every single week in our A&E departments.”

Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said the figures showed that the “NHS is fighting for its life”.

She stated: “In a single week, thousands of Scots were stuck waiting more than half a day in A&E, putting lives at risk and putting staff in an impossible position.

“Delayed discharge continues to spiral and pile pressure on services, despite one empty SNP pledge after another to end the practice.

“Staff are exhausted, patients are in danger, and the very future of our NHS is at stake.”

She said: “The SNP must start acting with the urgency and ambition needed to tackle these problems before more lives are lost.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also hit out at the Health Secretary, saying of Mr Yousaf: “22 times as many Scots are now waiting over 12 hours in our A&E departments than when he became health secretary.

“That is an atrocious record from our health secretary, so it is no wonder the First Minister stood in for him to take the heat from the press. He is out of his depth.”

Mr Yousaf said: “Pandemic backlogs, inflation costs and Brexit influencing staff shortages have all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.

“Extraordinary rises in flu and increases in Covid and Strep A have heightened pressure on already stretched services.

“My thanks to all health and social care staff for their incredible efforts during these exceptionally challenging times.”

He said the Scottish Government’s resilience committee was monitoring the situation “extremely closely” with the health secretary adding that there was daily contact with NHS boards “to ensure all possible actions are being taken to support services”.

He added: “This includes the use of Flow Navigation Centres, Hospital at Home and ambulance service staff providing treatment, where appropriate, to help avoid hospital admission.

“We will also increase staffing for NHS24 to help cope with rises in demand.”

The health secretary continued: “Emergency care will always be there for those who need it, but for many people, the best advice and support might be available on the NHS Inform website or the NHS 24 app, or by calling NHS 24. So I would encourage people to make use of these services as many are already doing.”