Number of patients waiting more than12 hours in A&E hits record figure

The number of people waiting at A&E for more than 12 hours has again reached the highest figure on record.

Some 1,015 people waited more than half a day in the week ending March 20, according to official figures from Public Health Scotland, rising from 747 the week before – an increase of 35%.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95% of people who attend A&E are seen and subsequently discharged or admitted to hospital within 12 hours.

The figure under this metric for the same week was also a record low at 66.2% of the 25,506 attendances at emergency departments.

The number of people waiting more than eight hours was also the highest on record at 2,615.

Scottish Tory health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “These worst ever A&E waiting time figures are simply atrocious. They are a damning indictment of Humza Yousaf’s time as Health Secretary and ought to shame the SNP Government.

“We know excess waits inevitably lead to needless deaths. So, for more than one in three patients to be waiting over four hours, and 1,000-plus patients in just one week having to wait more than half a day, is hugely alarming.

“Scotland’s emergency wards are beyond breaking point. Two of our largest health boards are pleading with patients not to attend A&E unless their condition is life-threatening.”

He added: “It’s now more than six months since Humza Yousaf’s patently inadequate Covid recovery plan was published, yet we’ve still seen no plan B for tackling the ever-growing A&E waiting times.

“Overworked frontline NHS staff and worried patients should not have to accept this perpetual crisis.”