Thousands of over-85s waited more than 12 hours in A&E last year, figures show

More than 12,000 patients over the age of 85 were forced to wait in A&E for more than 12 hours last year, according to figures published by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The data, obtained through a freedom of information request, shows nearly two in 10 people in the age group who attended emergency departments were kept there for more than half a day.

In total, 12,438 over-85s waited more than 12 hours.

In NHS Forth Valley and NHS Ayrshire and Arran, more than a third (34%) of people this age waited more than 12 hours, while the figure stood at 32% in NHS Lothian.

The Scottish Government’s target is for 95% of patients in emergency departments to be seen within four hours.

During First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton brought up the case of an 87-year-old woman who waited more than 12 hours after breaking her hip.

He told First Minister John Swinney on Thursday: “Winifred was an active 87-year-old. Until she fell and broke her hip.

“Her family say that they are ‘aghast’ at what happened next.

“In the weeks that followed, she experienced a 12-hour wait in accident and emergency, an unsafe discharge, a nine-hour wait for an ambulance to take her back to hospital, and yet another 12-hour wait in A&E.

“Winifred is not alone. These waits for emergency care have skyrocketed since the SNP came to power.

“New research we are publishing today shows that more than 12,000 people aged over 85 waited longer than 12 hours in Scotland’s A&E departments last year.

“So, can I ask the First Minister, what does he have to say to Winifred, to her family, and the thousands of others like them, so abjectly failed by his Government?”

Mr Swinney said he is “sorry” that Winifred and her family were forced to wait so long in A&E.

He added: “The health service faces extraordinary pressures as a consequence of the demand for assistance that there is in our healthcare system.

“I do not know the moment at which this incident happened but if Mr Cole-Hamilton will furnish me with the details, I will respond to that in full.

“But as he knows, as I have recounted to Parliament over the winter period, we have had extraordinary pressures on our healthcare system as a consequence of flu.

“What I can reassure Mr Cole-Hamilton about is that on the latest data available, 12-hour waits in accident and emergency, which are completely unacceptable, are falling.

“Eight-hour waits are falling, still completely unacceptable, but they are falling as we begin to get on top of the implications of that wave of demand that the healthcare system has faced.”

Earlier this month, the PA news agency revealed the number of Scots waiting more than 12 hours in A&E has skyrocketed to nearly 100 times higher than it was in 2011.

Just 784 people waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments in 2011 but by 2024 this number had surged to 76,346, according to an analysis by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

More than three times as many people waited more than 12 hours in Scotland’s A&E service last year alone than in the full decade up to 2020.