Number of Scots with 12-hour wait in A&E at highest level since February

The Scottish Government has come under fire over the increasing number of patients having long waits in A&E – with new figures showing the number enduring “dangerous” waits of 12 hours or more reached the highest level for almost eight months.

A total of 1,604 (5.9%) patients spent more than 12 hours in accident and emergency in the week ending October 5 – with this up from 1,431 (5.2%) the previous week, to what was the highest total since the week ending February 23.

The number of patients spending eight hours or more in A&E also increased to 3,667 (13.6% of all patients) the latest weekly figures showed – with this up from 3,552 (13%) the previous week.

While the Scottish Government has set the target of having 95% of patients in A&E seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, Public Health Scotland data showed, in the week ending October 5, this was achieved for 63.9% of patients – with this up from 63.1% the previous week.

But of the 27,055 who went to A&E for help over the course of the week, 9,755 were there for longer than the four-hour target time.

Health Secretary Neil Gray accepted that A&E departments are “facing sustained pressure” adding that “higher levels of hospital occupancy” are “impacting patient flow and leading to delays at the front door”.

However, opposition parties insisted the figures were “appalling” and “a disgrace”.

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Ghulane said: “The SNP’s inaction is resulting in a permanent crisis in Scotland’s NHS and things will only get worse as the full force of winter pressures hit.”

The Tory stated: “These appalling A&E figures show that the SNP’s mismanagement of our NHS is continuing to put lives at risk.

“Patients are still waiting far too long to be seen in emergency departments — and the number enduring dangerous waits of over eight or 12 hours has increased yet again.”

Dr Gulhane continued: “Scotland’s dedicated NHS staff are being pushed to breaking point, yet Neil Gray still has no plan to fix this emergency.”

Meanwhile, Labour health spokesperson Dame Jackie Baillie hit out at the First Minister, saying: “John Swinney claims his Government is doing all it can to cut waiting times – but these figures show the problem is getting worse.

“It is a disgrace that thousands of people in Scotland are having to endure waits of more than eight hours at A&E, with more than 1,500 waiting longer than 12 hours to get help.

“It is also deeply troubling that this is the state of our health service before we get into the winter months, when we know there is additional seasonal pressure on our NHS.”

She added: “The truth is that this SNP Government has no meaningful plan, no strategy, and no ideas to save our NHS.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said while eight and 12-hour waits at A&E used to be “vanishingly rare” they had now “become the norm”.

The Lib Dem said: “We need to see action now from the SNP Government to relieve the massive pressure on staff before winter arrives.”

Mr Gray, however, said the Scottish Government was “working closely with boards to ensure they have the necessary support to manage peaks in demand”.

The Health Secretary added the issues in A&E were “not unique to Scotland, with all other UK nations experiencing similar pressures”, saying that “despite this, Scotland’s core A&E departments have consistently outperformed those in England and Wales over the past decade”.

He continued: “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.”