Yousaf warns of fluctuations in A&E performance over ‘most challenging’ winter

There will be “fluctuations” in accident and emergency waiting times throughout this “most challenging” winter, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has warned, as the latest figures showed an improvement in performance.

The final week of October saw A&E departments produce their worst ever performance against targets, with just 63.1% of patients treated and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Public Health Scotland data for the week ending November 6 showed that had improved, so that 65.1% of patients were dealt with within the target time – although that is still well below the Scottish Government target of 95%.

Emergency departments dealt with 25,123 patients in the week ending November 6, with the figures showing that 8,760 were there for four hours or more – down from 9,615 the previous week.

There were 3,021 patients in A&E for eight hours or more, compared to 3,391 in the week ending October 30 – a drop of more than 10%

The number of patients who spent 12 hours or more in A&E also fell, going from 1,445 to 1,354 in the week ending November 6

Mr Yousaf said while the latest figures showed an “improvement in overall performance” there would still be “fluctuations in performance” over the course of the winter.

With pressures mounting on the NHS, the Health Secretary has repeatedly warned the service faces its most challenging winter ever.

Opposition politicians, however, are calling for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to sack Mr Yousaf, with Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane saying: “The buck stops firmly with Humza Yousaf for these horrendous A&E figures that occur every single week.”

The Tory said the “scarcely believable” waiting time figures showed there were “more and more patients’ lives at risk”.

Dr Gulhane said: “Nicola Sturgeon may have absolute confidence in Humza Yousaf but long suffering patients and heroic staff certainly do not, and changing the Health Secretary would allow for fresh planning for winter.

>“His deplorable tenure as Health Secretary has pushed our health service into total crisis and all he does is spin dodgy data to protect himself and this SNP Government.

“Humza Yousaf has completely lost the trust of patients and staff and his flimsy NHS Recovery Plan has proven to be a monumental failure. It is time Nicola Sturgeon accepted this and sacked him.”

Mr Yousaf said: “This week we have seen an improvement in overall performance and a decrease in the number of patients waiting longer than 12 hours for treatment.

“There has also been a drop in the number of patients who spent over 8 hours in A&E, down from 3,391 last week to 3,021 this week, a 10.9% reduction.

“This is welcome, but I am clear we will continue to see fluctuations in performance over the course of winter.”

The Health Secretary continued: “The combined impact of pandemic backlogs, Brexit-driven staff shortages, and inflation costs will make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.

Delayed discharge continues to be the single biggest factor driving up A&E waits and health boards are striving to ensure people leave hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.

“A key focus of our winter plan is on social care and actions to encourage authorities to help ease delays.

“We are engaged in intensive discussions with local authorities and integration authorities to ensure every single ounce of spare capacity in the community is being utilised.

“Our £600 million winter plan will see us recruit 1,000 new NHS staff and our £50 million Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative looks to drive down A&E waits through scheduled urgent appointments, Hospital at Home and directing people to most appropriate care.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the latest figures are concerning as they come before the NHS is anywhere near the peak winter pressures.

He said: “If you look at the last four weeks statistics, it’s the worst we’ve ever performed in our National Health Service, and that is even before we get to those winter pressures so the measures being taken by the Government are simply not good enough.

“They’re adding to the stress, they’re adding to the workload, they’re adding to the burden for staff, but they’re also meaning negative outcomes for patients.

“And we’ve already been told by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that that means excess deaths, that means people whose lives could have been saved but who are losing their lives because of a failure to properly resource and manage our accident and emergency departments.

“That’s not good enough, it’s not acceptable and it’s on the SNP’s watch.”