Increased wait times for A&E treatment

PROGRESS against accident and emergency waiting times has dipped slightly, according to the latest weekly figures.

In the week ending Sunday April 19, Scotland’s 32 emergency departments dealt with 25,616 patients.

A total of 90.8 per cent were seen, treated and either discharged or admitted within the target time of four hours, a slight decrease from 91.5 per cent in the previous week.

Of those, 220 patients (0.9 per cent) spent more than eight hours in A&E while 34 patients (0.1 per cent) had a wait of more than 12 hours.

Labour said the latest update meant the SNP had missed its own target for the 289th week running.

But Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “While performance is down slightly on last week’s figures, it is still almost five percentage points higher than when weekly reporting began on February 22.

“However, I have been clear with health boards that they must now focus on sustaining the reduced waiting times we have recently seen and move towards meeting our world-leading targets.

“Reassuringly, long waits are continuing to remain low, with less than one per cent of patients waiting for more than eight hours.”

Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jenny Marra accused the Government of “running out of ideas to support our hospitals”.

She said: “Doctors and nurses are working round the clock to help people but unless staff are given the resources they need to do their job, too many patients will continue to be let down.

“Overstretched A&E departments are struggling to cope and patients are waiting hours for treatment.” THE world’s pipe band championships will return to Glasgow again this summer. About 50,000 music fans, families and tourists are expected to visit the city to witness the Piping Live! Glasgow International Piping Festival and The World Pipe Band Championships from August 10-16. The championships and festival involve 200 events and 8,000 performers, and musicians will be performing daily in George Square square after a two-year absence. The World Pipe Band Championships takes place on Glasgow Green on August 14-15. Roddy MacLeod, Festival Director of Piping Live, said: “We annually attract tens of thousands of people to the city and last year Piping Live! had an economic impact of almost £2 million to the city – so you could say we’re the summer’s main attraction.” Picture: Chris James