155 A&E patients waited 12 hours

A total of 155 patients who attended an Ayrshire and Arran A&E waited more than 12 hours for treatment, new figures show.

And another 231 were forced to endure waiting times of more than eight hours to be either admitted, transferred or discharged.

The figures come from Public Health Scotland and cover a week-long period ending on Sunday, February 6.

Only 71 per cent of those who attended an A&E in the region were dealt with within the four-hour standard- falling way short of the Scottish Government’s 95 per cent target.

South Scotland Labour MSP Colin

Smyth said the figures were “very concerning.”

He added: “Many of the problems facing our NHS, including a lack of frontline staff, were there long before Covid. They have simply been exposed by the pandemic. The Scottish Government’s lack of action in the face of this crisis has been nothing short of a dereliction of duty. This is unacceptable – action is needed now including better resourcing A&E departments to stop lives being lost.”

Elena Whitham, SNP MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley said: ““The figure we are currently seeing across Ayrshire is that just over seven in 10 people are being seen within four hours target which is not where we want to be. I welcome the additional £10 million of funding that has been allocated to health boards, this is on top of the £300 million package of funding already announced as part of the Winter Plan to support the NHS.”

A Scottish Government s p o k e s p e r s o n s a i d : “A & E w a i t s continue to show a marked improvement on the situation from the turn of the year.

“Our NHS staff have worked incredibly hard during the pandemic and they have our thanks for the care they continue to provide the people of Scotland.“