Worsening A&E performance exposes ‘utter failure’ of Government, Tories claim

The Scottish Government has been accused of an “utter failure” on accident and emergency waiting times as figures revealed a worsening situation.

Statistics released on Tuesday show the number of people seen within four hours in A&E dropped to 65.1% in the week to August 31, compared with 65.9% the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95% of people are seen within the four-hour target time.

The latest weekly figures also show a substantial increase in the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E, rising from 3.9% to 4.7% of total attendances.

The number of people waiting more than eight hours also increased sharply from 10.3% to 11.8%.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These appalling figures expose the utter failure of the SNP Government to get a grip on Scotland’s A&E crisis.

“It’s intolerable that more than a third of patients are waiting over four hours to be seen, and 1,300 patients left languishing for more than half-a-day, especially during summer.

“If the system is already buckling now, what on earth is going to happen in the depths of winter?

“This is nothing short of a national emergency, and lives are being needlessly lost as a result.

“Frontline staff are working tirelessly around the clock, but they’re being completely failed by this SNP Government.

“Years of dire workforce planning, failed reform, and (former health secretary) Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan have left services at breaking point.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Scotland’s A&Es are stuck in a state of perpetual crisis and the SNP is clueless about how to fix it.

“Week in, week out thousands of Scots are left languishing for hours on end waiting for emergency care, but nothing ever changes.”

Health Secretary Neil Gray said the figures are “below the level we wish to see”.

He said: “The most recent monthly A&E figures, published last week, showed that July 2025 saw the lowest number of eight and 12-hour waits for any month since September 2023.

“While this is encouraging progress, the weekly performance figures published today are below the level we wish to see.

“The Scottish Government is determined to drive improvements and remains in close contact with all health boards to ensure they have the support they need to cope with peaks in demand.

“We are investing £200 million to reduce waiting times, improve hospital flow, and minimise delayed discharges.

“We will provide direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E and expand Hospital at Home capacity to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026. These measures will help us shift the focus of care from acute to community.”