A&E performances see slight improvement in latest weekly figures

Scotland’s A&E performances saw a slight improvement on the previous week, with 70.2% of patients being seen within four hours, according to the latest figures.

Statistics from Public Health Scotland, covering the week up to April 24, show an increase from 68.1% the week before.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95% of people who attend A&E are seen and subsequently discharged or admitted to hospital within four hours.

There were a total of 26,235 attendances at A&E services across the country during the seven-day period.

Of these attendees, 653 patients spent more than 12 hours in an A&E department, 1,974 patients waited more than eight hours and 7,828 waited more than four hours.

Meanwhile, figures for March showed there was an increase of nearly 20,000 people attending emergency departments in Scotland compared to the previous month.

Data for the whole of March showed there were 130,188 attendances at A&E services, compared to a figure of 110,196 for February.

Monthly performances appeared to be down on the previous month, with an increase in patients waiting to be seen within the eight and 12-hour measurements.

Of these patients, 4,128 (3.3%) saw a waiting time of more than 12 hours – an increase of 1,724 compared to February.

Some 71.6% of attendances at A&E services were seen within the four-hour target – down from February’s figure of 74.2% and the lowest rate for 2022 so far – while 11,017 (8.7%) spent more than eight hours in an emergency department.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “There is still no end in sight to the horrendous A&E waiting times in Scotland – in fact, things are getting even worse.

“All the Covid restrictions have been lifted and the NHS is apparently no longer on an emergency footing, and yet we have a new monthly record for the proportion of patients waiting four hours to be seen.

“The explanation for this, and the tragic, avoidable deaths it’s causing, is simple: dreadful workforce planning by the SNP Government.

“This is completely unacceptable for patients, but it’s also really unfair on frontline staff who have been stretched beyond breaking point for months and feel responsible for a crisis that’s not of their making.”

Public Health Scotland figures also showed that 2,109 (9.6%) of all planned operations in the month of March were cancelled the day before or on the day the patient was due to be treated.

Delayed discharges saw an increase in March, with 1,836 – a rise of 8% compared to February’s figure of 1,704.

Public Health Scotland said this was largely due to an increase in delays as a result of the infection control measures in place at hospital or in care homes.