A&E waiting times at worst level since early January, figures show

A&E waiting times in Scotland are at the worst level since early January, figures show.

Statistics released on Tuesday show in the week up to April 5, just 60.4% of people who attended A&E were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within the four-hour target time.

The last time the figure fell so low was in the week up to January 11, when the NHS was grappling with winter pressures.

At the same time, the number of attendances in emergency departments dropped significantly compared to the previous week, from 28,423 to 25,825 – while the number of people waiting more than four hours stayed relatively flat, moving from 10,341 down to 10,225.

The Scottish Government aims for 95% of patients to be seen within the four-hour target, which has not been met since the early days of the pandemic.

Elsewhere, 1,554 people waited more than 12 hours in that week, with 3,684 waiting more than eight hours.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said waits in A&E are “dangerously long”.

“After nearly 20 years of SNP government, Scotland’s A&Es are stuck in a state of constant crisis and patients and staff are being failed.

“The dangerously long waits in A&E are a symbol of this incompetent SNP Government’s failure to support our NHS.

“If John Swinney and the SNP knew how to fix this, they would have done it by now.

“It’s time for change and, in just over three weeks, we can save our NHS.”

Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the figures were “proof that the SNP cannot be trusted with our health service”.

“We’re way past the peak winter demand in A&E departments, yet thousands of patients are still suffering life-threatening delays in a system that’s in permanent crisis mode,” he said.

“Frontline medics are working flat out for their patients but, after two decades of SNP incompetence, they simply don’t have the resources to cut through the A&E backlog.

“John Swinney has sat around the SNP cabinet table for nearly 20 years. No one is buying his desperate claims that he can fix the crisis his party created.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the “abysmal” statistics “show why the SNP need to be removed from Government”.

“There are not enough beds in A&E because there are no longer the beds in longer term wards to move patients to,” he said.

“Too many beds in longer term wards are occupied by people who are medically ready to leave but can’t because the shortages of care workers and care packages won’t let them.”