Public Health Scotland promises ‘improvements’ in presentation of A&E data

“Improvements” will be made in the way A&E performance data is presented, following concerns that hospitals are recording waiting times in inconsistent ways, Scotland’s public health body has said.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has said it is reviewing what kinds of care pathways should be covered by the four-hour, A&E access standard.

The public health body says this work is “complex” and will continue for some months.

Scottish Conservative MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane had said there appeared to be discrepancies in the ways different hospitals in Scotland collect data on A&E waiting times.

He wrote to the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) on the issue, saying it is not clear how patients at the acute assessment unit in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow are being recorded.

The UKSA’s chairman, Sir Robert Chote, responded and said work was ongoing to determine whether all relevant activity was being included in the A&E data.

He emphasised that healthcare performance statistics should be comparable within Scotland and other parts of the UK, something he said was a “longstanding broader challenge”.

The Scottish Government aims to have 95% of people seen within the four-hour target, though this has not been met since mid-2020.

A spokeswoman for PHS said: “PHS is working with Scottish Government and NHS Boards to review urgent and emergency care clinical pathways and confirm what should be covered by the four-hour A&E access standard.

“This is a complex area and PHS expects that this work will cover various strands and will be ongoing for a number of months.

“The results of this work will inform clarifications in the A&E recording guidance, as well as improvements in the way PHS presents and explains the A&E statistics it reports.

“PHS expects that it will be able to identify and implement improvements in an incremental way, some starting in early 2023, but others needing longer to confirm the best approach.

“PHS will continue to update users of the statistics of changes as they are implemented.

“In the meantime, PHS is acting immediately to make sure that the potential impact on consistency and comparability of A&E statistics for different sites is clear and will add a statement to its weekly and monthly publications about this.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Scotland’s A&E performance has been consistently better than that in other parts of the UK. And while the letter from Sir Robert Chote outlines the challenges of collecting comparable data, exactly the same factors will be applicable to data collection of A&E stats in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“We will continue to ensure that A&E statistics for Scotland remain as robust and reliable as possible.”