NHS cannot afford another year of stagnation, ministers warned

Scotland’s accident and emergency departments “cannot afford yet another year of stagnation”, ministers have been told.

Figures released on Tuesday show more than a third of people attending A&E waited longer than four hours in the week to February 18.

The statistics reveal 62.7% were seen and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours, the same as the previous week.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95% of patients are seen within the four-hour target.

The proportion of people seen within 12 hours, however, dropped from 6.6% to 6.1%, with 1,539 people waiting half a day or more, while 13.9% of those in A&E waited more than eight hours, up from 13.6% the previous week.

Responding to the figures, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Waiting times appear to have stagnated at this low level with little sign of imminent recovery.

“The new Health Secretary needs to act now to reverse this, our NHS cannot afford yet another year of stagnation and no recovery.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane described the figures as “appalling” and claimed they “continue to be the shocking norm on the SNP’s watch”.

He added: “Successive SNP health secretaries – including Humza Yousaf and the disgraced Michael Matheson – have miserably failed to get a grip of a deepening crisis on the front line.

“Dire workforce planning and Humza Yousaf’s flimsy recovery plan means despite the best efforts of my dedicated colleagues, patients are suffering longer and longer waits at A&E.”

He said new Health Secretary Neil Gray “must get a grip” of the issues in the health service.

Mr Gray said: “The pressures being felt by our A&E departments are not unique to Scotland, with similar challenges being felt by emergency departments throughout the UK.

“Nevertheless, we know that A&E performance remains below the levels we all wish to see and we continue to work with boards to support delivery of sustained improvements.

“Our hospitals are reporting sustained pressures driven by high levels of occupancy and delayed discharge associated with high numbers of patients who are acutely unwell. However, additional pressures brought on by seasonal illness do appear to be easing.

“We recognise that waiting times are longer than we want them to be for some patients. Despite this, there are some signs of stabilisation across the system in recent weeks, and we hope to see pressure continue to ease in weeks to come.”