More than 12 per cent of A&E patients waited at least eight hours
number of people waiting longer than eight hours in accident and emergency increased in the latest weekly figures.
In the week to March 17, a total of 3,239, 12.1 per cent of patients, were in A&E for more than eight hours before they were seen and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred.
Statistics published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) show that increased from the previous week, when 2,971 — 11.3 per cent — patients waited the same time period.
Patients waiting more than 12 hours to be seen also increased, up to 1,258 (4.7 per cent) in the latest week, compared to 1,146 (4.4 per cent) in the week ending March 10.
Scottish Government targets state 95 per cent of patients should wait no longer than four hours from arrival for admission, discharge or transfer - but it has not been met since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Just 62.9 per cent, or 16,859 patients, were seen within four hours in the most recent week, down from 65.1 per cent, or 17,051, the previous week.
However, PHS said the NHS was experiencing server issues in the most recent week which impacted the processing of data from health boards, meaning some data may not have fully processed yet. In the most recent week, 26,790 people attended A&E, up from 26,182 in the week ending March 10. Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “It’s completely unacceptable that, well into spring, the already-woeful A&E waiting times are getting even worse.
“The buck stops with a succession of failed SNP health secretaries, whose dire workforce planning has left dedithe cated frontline staff unable to cope, prompting A&E consultants in Glasgow to warn that patient safety is being compromised.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-hamilton, said no progress had been made in the entire year since Humza Yousaf became First Minister. “Patients and staff have been facing unprecedented pressure at A&E for years now. They are sick of hearing empty SNP promises. They need a government that will get the basics right.”