A&E waiting times branded ‘deeply alarming’ despite improved performance

Health Secretary Neil Gray has come under fire over the latest “deeply alarming” waiting times figures from Scotland’s accident and emergency departments.

Scottish Conservatives accused Mr Gray of having “no plan to fix” the “permanent crisis” in A&E as new data showed less than two thirds (66.1%) of patients were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within the four-hour target time.

The figures, for the week ending September 14, marked an improvement from the previous week, when the target was met for 63% of patients.

But they continue to fall well below the Scottish Government’s target of having 95% of patients in A&E admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Public Health Scotland data for the week ending September 14 showed that of the 28,018 patients who went to A&E for help, 9,502 had to wait longer than four hours.

And there were 3,271 patients (11.7%) who were there for eight hours or more, with 1,362 (4.9%) spending at least half a day in the emergency department.

The figures were released at the same time as research by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimated that some 818 excess deaths were recorded last year as a result of A&E waits of 12 hours or longer.

Scottish Tory health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said that the “deeply alarming figures” on A&E waiting times “confirm the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s NHS continues to put lives at risk”.

The Tory MSP warned: “As we head towards winter, pressure on emergency care will only intensify, yet the SNP are still failing to meet their four-hour target.

“We now know that those excessive waits at A&E caused over 800 deaths last year which should be a source of shame for SNP ministers.

“Dedicated NHS staff are doing their best, but they are being badly let down by Neil Gray who refuses to face reality and has no plan to fix this permanent crisis in A&E.”

Mr Gray welcomed the reduction in long waits shown in the latest figures – though he accepted performance in A&E is “below the level we all wish to see”.

He stressed that the Scottish Government is “determined to drive improvements”.

The Health Secretary said: “Scotland’s core A&E departments have consistently outperformed those in England and Wales over the past decade. Latest monthly A&E figures show July 2025 had the lowest number of eight and 12 hour waits for any month since September 2023.

“I am pleased to see a reduction in long waits in this week’s data – however, performance is below the level we all wish to see and we are determined to drive improvements.

“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.”