Too many Scots have long A&E wait as their lasting memory of summer

The lasting memory of this summer for too many Scots will be a long wait at A&E, Scottish Labour has claimed.

Statistics from Public Health Scotland show 63.7% of people were seen within four hours in the week to July 21, a drop from 65.4% the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95% of people are seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours in the country’s emergency departments – a target which has not been hit since the early months of the pandemic, when attendances plummeted.

The Government has since then struggled to improve waiting times, with the figure generally sitting stubbornly between 60% and 70%.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said the “sustained pressure” in emergency medicine is not unique to Scotland, while admitting the figures remain “well below” what is expected.

But Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “For too many Scots, the lasting memory of this summer will be an agonising wait in a hospital corridor.

“With the NHS facing a summer meltdown, the SNP must get a grip of waiting lists before winter puts even more pressure on our hard-working NHS staff.

“The UK Labour Government is investing in our NHS but it’s up to the SNP to spend that money wisely and put the NHS back on its feet.”

In the week to July 21, 1,448 people waited more than 12 hours at A&E – up from 1,200 the week before – and 3,345 waited more than eight hours, up from 2,914.

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.

“A&E performance is impacted by pressures from across the wider health and social care system and we are continuing to work with boards to reduce long waits and support delivery of sustained improvements.

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

Scottish Conservative deputy health spokeswoman Tess White said: “These atrocious – and worsening figures – are a damning indictment of the SNP’s continued mismanagement of Scotland’s A&E departments.

“We know these skyrocketing waiting times will inevitably lead to more patients dying needlessly, and the fact that the permanent crisis in our NHS is deepening at the height of summer is terrifying.

“It’s clear that the peak winter season will spell disaster for the health service unless action is taken immediately.

“The double whammy of (then health secretary) Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan and the dire workforce planning of successive nationalist health secretaries means it is the shocking – but unacceptable – norm that over a third of patients are forced to wait over four hours before being treated in A&E.”