Emergency departments achieve waiting time targets for third week

The NHS in Scotland has met an accident-and-emergency (A&E) waiting-times target for the third week since the start of June, new figures have revealed.

In the week ending Sunday 16 July, 95.3 per cent of patients in A&E were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours – achieving the Scottish Government’s interim target of 95 per cent.

Staff in emergency departments dealt with 24,964 cases over the seven days – with only 55 patients being kept in A&E for eight hours or more while just seven 0 Health secretary Shona Robison welcomed the figures were there for over 12 hours.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “I’d like to thank all the staff who are involved in this effort, not just in A&E, but also those elsewhere in the hospital and social care system who make sure that patients are able to flow through the system with minimum delay.

“Working with boards there has been a real focus in recent years on making accidentand-emergency departments asstreamlinedaspossibleand reducing delayed discharge further along the chain.

“This has undoubtedly played a part in ensuring that Scotland’s A&ES have outperformed those in the rest of the UK for more than two years. Our six essential actions for unscheduled care, backed with £9 million of new investment this year, will continue to help us keep waits to a minimum.”