Ministers accused of ‘disinterest’ as A&E performance stagnates

The Scottish Government has been accused of “years of ministerial disinterest” as figures showed more than one third of patients at accident and emergency waited longer than four hours.

Statistics released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday show 64.3% of attendances at A&E in the week to April 14 were seen within the four-hour target time – up from 62% the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims to have 95% of patients seen within four hours.

Of the 25,423 attendances in that week, 3,092 people waited longer than eight hours – down from 3,663 the previous week.

A total of 1,341 people waited longer than 12 hours, dropping from 1,741.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the Government has “completely failed to fix our A&E departments”.

He added: “Years of ministerial disinterest are coming home to roost and leaving A&E departments stuck in crisis.

“At this time of year, you would expect to see waiting times improve as we get past the busy winter period, but it has barely changed.

“Patients and staff alike deserve better than this mismanagement. We need to finally see meaningful action taken to reverse this situation.”

Scottish Conservative deputy health spokeswoman Tess White said ministers are “continuing to fail miserably in getting a grip on the crisis in Scotland’s A&E departments”.

She added: “Despite being well into the spring period, far too many patients are suffering potentially deadly delays that you would expect to see at the height of winter due to the SNP’s inaction.

“Dire workforce planning by successive SNP health secretaries and the overwhelming failure of Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan mean our A&E departments are in now in permanent crisis mode.

“Despite the tireless efforts of dedicated NHS frontline staff, it has become alarmingly routine for over a third of patients to endure waits of more than four hours at A&E.

“(Health Secretary) Neil Gray cannot ignore this crisis any longer and must act now.

“He should start by adopting our plans to deliver a modern, efficient, and local health service.”

Mr Gray said the health service remains under “severe pressure” and waiting times are “longer than we want them to be for too many patients”.

He added: “We continue to work collaboratively with health boards to develop services, support sustained improvement and reduce A&E waits.

“I am pleased to see some improvements in performance this week with decreases in the number of patients waiting longer than eight and 12 hours – there was a 15.6% decrease in the number of patients who spent over eight hours in A&E and a 23% decrease in patients who spent over 12 hours in A&E, compared to last week.

“The 2024-25 Scottish Budget provides over £19.5 billion for health and social care and an extra £500 million for frontline health boards.

“An initial investment of £30 million in the NHS, the first instalment of a £300 million investment over three years, will target reductions to pandemic backlogs and patients waiting the longest time.”