Hundreds waiting for more than 12 hours at A&E

A record 470 people waited at least 12 hours at Scotland’s emergency departments in another week of fire-fighting in the NHS.

Official figures reveal the number of Fife patients hanging on for at least eight hours increased from 30 to 52 in the week to January 7, with nine waiting more than 12.

Holyrood’s opposition parties rounded on the SNP administration, accusing them of failing to support hard-working NHS staff.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said some are waiting a “little longer” at A&E because of the need to isolate those with flu, with the number of flu-related cases four times higher than the same period last year.

Miles Briggs, for the Scottish Conservatives, said it is unacceptable that 67 patients a day are waiting more than 12 hours.

“It used to be that patients going to A&E would worry about not being seen within four hours,” he said.

“Now, under this SNP government, there’s a reasonable chance they’ll have to wait double that, with hundreds every week even spending 12 hours or more in casualty.”

In the first week of the year, 77.9% of patients were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours at A&E units, according to Scottish Government figures published on Tuesday.

The 82.3% recorded in Fife was a slight improvement on the previous week, but below the 90% target, which Tayside achieved.

Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar said Scotland’s A&E performance was “abysmal” under the SNP.

Ms Robison said emergency departments continue to “feel the effects of the steep rise in flu cases”.

Health boards in Courier Country have overseen an improvement in delayed discharge, which keeps patients in hospital despite being medically ready to leave.

In Fife, bed-blocking fell by 44% compared with 17% in Tayside in November 2017, on the same month the previous year, according to official figures.