NHS in ‘grim’ state say Scottish Tories as latest waiting figures released

Scotland’s A&E departments are in a “grim” state ahead of the “toughest winter our NHS has ever faced”, the Scottish Tories have warned.

Figures released on Tuesday show a slight improvement in the waiting times at emergency departments, with 64.7% of people being seen within the four-hour target time in the week up to November 16, up from 61.4% the previous week.

While performance is at its best since mid-September, it remains well below the Scottish Government target of 95%.

The number of people going to emergency departments, however, dropped sharply between those weeks – falling from 28,712 to 27,063.

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours at A&E also dropped significantly, falling from 2,212 to 1,592 in the previous week.

And the number waiting eight dropped from 4,583 to 3,454.

Responding to the figures, Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These catastrophic and worsening figures show our NHS teetering on the brink of collapse under the SNP.

“Every week, thousands of patients are left to suffer in pain because of nationalist 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 Health Secretary Neil Gray said he was “pleased” with the improvements, but added that performance was still below what the Government wanted.

“We are working with all health boards to shift the balance of care from acute to community and ensure the flow of patients through hospital is improved,” he said.

“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.

“I am pleased to see a 28% decrease in the number of people waiting over 12 hours in A&E – however, we know performance remains below the levels we all wish to see.

“We are determined to drive improvement and ensure boards have the support in place to deal with increased winter demand.

“Our investment of £20 million will boost social care capacity and provide additional support at the front door of our emergency departments, which will relieve pressure and reduce admissions.

“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.”