‘Winter storm’ in NHS unless SNP gets a grip

SCOTLAND’S NHS is facing a ‘winter storm’ unless the SNP gets a grip on spiralling A&E waiting times, it was claimed yesterday.

Last week saw the worst A&E performance rate on record, with only 64.9 per cent of patients in Scotland being seen within four hours.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘Patients are already experiencing a summer of chaos with the longest waits for treatment in our NHS.

‘Waiting times at A&E hit another record high on Humza Yousaf’s watch last week, yet the worst may still be to come for suffering patients and heroic frontline staff.

‘Every year, we have seen performance in our hospitals being better in the summer and worse in winter.

‘Waiting times are already at a record high and the number of patients waiting for treatments is ever increasing.’

On average, A&E performance in winter is down 5 per cent on summer months. However, between 2017 and 2020 the gap widened to 9 per cent.

The Scottish Government target is for 95 per cent of patients in emergency departments to be seen within four hours.

But since 2015, waiting times in A&Es have dramatically increased. Seven years ago, 94.4 per cent of people in A&E were seen within a four-hour window.

In 2022, so far only 67.8 per cent of people have been seen in this time frame.

Dr Gulhane added: ‘Suffering patients and staff who are beyond breaking point will likely face a winter storm later in the year. Humza Yousaf’s inaction is at the heart of this chaos.’

The warning comes as healthcare services continue to face even more chaos with nurses threatening industrial action over a pay deal and the number of people being urgently referred with suspicion of cancer now waiting longer than the 62-day target for their first treatment.

Dr Gulhane said: ‘Humza Yousaf needs to accept that his flimsy NHS Recovery Plan produced last year isn’t cutting it and needs to be rewritten. That new recovery plan must support staff before the winter period hits.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The number of Covid inpatients in hospital has been increasing, resulting in reduced capacity and staff absences, and having a detrimental impact on delays in A&E.

‘Despite this, last week’s figures showed nearly two-thirds of patients were seen in A&E departments within the four-hour target.

‘Building upon lessons identified from 2021-22, we are developing a cross-cutting programme of winter readiness to strengthen service resilience and enhance national contingency planning to support our NHS Boards.’

‘The worst may still be to come’