A&E waiting time figures ‘encouraging’ but ‘still work to do’ says Neil Gray

Scotland’s accident and emergency departments are still facing “sustained pressure” despite figures showing an improvement in waiting times, the Health Secretary has said.

Neil Gray, however, said that new weekly figures showing  a fall in long waits were “encouraging”.

He spoke as the latest statistics from Public Health Scotland showed 66.5% of patients in A&E were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within the government’s target time of four hours.

That total, for the week ending Sunday March 8, is up from from 62.7% in the previous week and higher than the weekly average of 64.9% recorded in 2025.

The data also showed improvements in the number of patients with the longest waits – with 3,259 (12.1%) in A&E for a minimum of eight hours and 1,481 (5.5%) there for 12 hours or more.

In both cases, the proportion of patients having these longer waits is down from the previous week – when 15.1% of patients spent over eight hours in A&E and 7.2% were there for half a day or more.

The Health Secretary said: “While there is more work to do, it is encouraging that performance has improved – up on last week and on this time last year.

“It is also welcome that the longest waits have fallen significantly in the latest week – down by almost 25%.”

However, he added: “Our A&E departments are still facing sustained pressure. We continue to work closely with health boards to drive improvements.

“Health boards continue to report high levels of hospital occupancy, long stays and delayed discharges which are impacting on patient flow and leading to delays at the front door.”

Mr Gray stressed: “This situation is not unique to Scotland with all other UK nations experiencing similar pressures.”

However, Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said that “on the SNP’s watch, it is the shocking norm that thousands of patients are spending far too long waiting to be treated at A&E”.

The Tory stated: “Frontline staff are working tirelessly to see patients on time, but the SNP have plunged Scotland’s NHS into complete chaos.”

Hitting out at the First Minister Dr Gulhane added: “We know that these lengthy delays needlessly cost lives, yet John Swinney is still claiming the NHS has turned a corner.”