A&E waits of more than 12 hours at highest level since January, figures show

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in accident and emergency has hit the highest level since January, figures show.

Statistics released by Public Health Scotland show 2,181 people waited longer than 12 hours to be seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged in Scotland’s emergency departments in the week to November 9.

That was up from 1,831 the previous week and is the highest since the week of January 5.

The number of people waiting longer than eight hours in the week to November 9 was the highest in 2025.

Some 4,532 people spent that length of time in A&E in the most recent week, up from 4,093 the previous week and the highest since the week of December 22 last year.

Total waiting times at A&E also worsened, with 61.5% of people seen within the four-hour target time, dropping from 62.7% the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims for 95% of people to be seen within four hours – a target which has not been hit since the early months of the pandemic, when attendances had dropped massively.

Responding to the figures, Health Secretary Neil Gray again said the Government’s plans are “working” but A&E performance is “below the levels we all wish to see”.

He added: “We are working closely with boards to improve the flow of patients through hospital and shift the balance of care from acute to community.

“Our approach is working and we are seeing waiting lists coming down, GP numbers increase, and last year we delivered a record number of hip and knee operations.

“However, we know that A&E performance remains below the levels we all wish to see and we are a determined to drive improvements.

“To ensure boards have the support in place to deal with increased winter demand, we are providing £20 million to be targeted at initiatives to increase social care capacity and provide extra support at the front door of A&Es – which will reduce admissions and relieve pressure.

“A key part of our winter response is prevention and vaccination is one of the best ways to protect our own health and those around us. With flu cases rising, I urge all those who are eligible to get vaccinated and help protect NHS capacity this winter.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the A&E wait time figures are “catastrophic and worsening”, with the NHS “teetering on the brink of collapse under the SNP”.

He added: “Every week, thousands of patients are left to suffer in pain because of incompetence – and we know this is leading to tragic and needless loss of life.

“We’re heading into the toughest winter our NHS has ever faced, and staff are working themselves to the bone for their patients, but the SNP’s dire workforce planning and Neil Gray’s sticking-plaster winter preparedness plan simply won’t cut it.

“Neil Gray has had months to get a credible plan in place, but instead the already-atrocious waiting times are getting worse before we even reach the peak season for demand.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said it is “beyond clear” the Scottish Government “have no idea how to tackle the crisis” in emergency medicine.

“It is deeply troubling that A&E waiting times are getting worse, just as we head into the winter months when we know there will be increased pressure on the health service,” she said.

“Instead of coming up with a credible and serious plan to reduce the waits people face, SNP ministers are more interested in trying to fiddle the numbers in a desperate attempt to make themselves look better.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Under the SNP it feels like every week A&E is breaking some kind of record for long waits. We are now seeing the highest number of people waiting over eight hours of the entire year.

“With the cold snap of the last few days we can be under no misapprehension that winter has now arrived, yet the SNP have squandered the months it had to prepare and left our A&E departments in a perilous state.

“The Scottish Government needs to start taking serious action to support the staff facing these pressure cooker conditions.”