Third of A&E patients waiting more than four hours, figures show

More than a third of Scots are continuing to wait over four hours in accident and emergency, the latest figures show.

Public Health Scotland statistics released on Tuesday show 63% of people were seen within four hours in the week up to October 20.

That is an improvement on 62.3% from the week before.

But it falls far short of the Scottish Government’s target of 95% of patients being within four hours.

Thousands are continuing to wait double or triple that time each week.

The number of people who waited more than 12 hours accounted for 6.2% of all patients in the latest seven-day period – down slightly from 6.3% the week before.

The amount of people waiting more than eight hours for treatment remained the same for the second week in a row, at 13.7%.

Dr Sandesh Gulhane, the Scottish Conservative health spokesman, described the waiting times as “utterly appalling”.

He said: “The SNP’s winter plan failed to address any of the issues facing emergency departments and wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.

“If Neil Gray as Health Secretary does not act now, then suffering patients and overwhelmed staff will experience complete chaos this winter.

“The fact that there is little to no improvement on this crisis week after week demonstrates chronic neglect from SNP ministers who are totally disconnected from the reality occurring every day in A&E departments.

“Neil Gray needs to get a grip on this crisis and outline a real plan to reduce waiting times. Otherwise, a terrifying winter period lies ahead.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said waits in A&E have been “locked in a state of permanent crisis” under the SNP.

“Waiting times are already as long as they are in past winters, and it is only October,” he added.

“These waits are intolerable for staff and patients alike, neither should be expected to just accept this level of waits as the norm, but under this SNP Government it is the norm.”

Mr Gray said: “The recent dip in performance is contributed to by a range of issues such as increased illness and is in line with typical seasonal trends for this time of year.

“To help reduce unnecessary A&E attendances, a record number of NHS 24 call handlers will be available to direct people to the most appropriate care as part of our winter plan.

“We are also working to address delayed discharge in hospitals with an increased focus on effective discharge planning.”

The Health Secretary added: “Although we have the best performing core A&E departments in the UK, performance is below the level we all wish to see and we are working closely with health boards to reduce long waits.

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