Health Secretary warned of looming ‘humanitarian crisis’
HUMZA Yousaf has been told to act on Scotland’s NHS – or his position will become “untenable”.
Scottish Labour issued the stark warning after the party, along with the Scottish Conservatives, criticised the handling of Scotland’s healthcare system at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
Figures published during the week showed Scotland’s emergency departments reported their worst waiting times on record, with just 63.5 per cent of people being seen and subsequently admitted or discharged within four hours.
A freedom of information (FOI) request by the Tories also revealed this week that one patient at University Hospital Crosshouse in Ayrshire waited 84 hours and 10 minutes for treatment in January of this year.
Labour has attacked a “succession of key failures” it says have occurred during Mr Yousaf’s tenure as Scotland’s Health Secretary. The party has highlighted statistics showing “the worst weekly and monthly A&E waiting times recorded” in recent years, with thousands of patients waiting more than eight hours to receive emergency treatment on a weekly basis.
Labour said that from June 2021 to July 2022, delayed discharges from hospitals have resulted in more than 685,000 bed days being lost.
July of this year saw a daily average number of 1,806 beds occupied by someone who was ready to be discharged from hospital – the highest figure since the current guidance was introduced six years prior.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: “Despite warning after warning, Humza Yousaf’s inaction is leading our NHS into a winter crisis like no other. After being in post for almost 500 days, Humza Yousaf has failed to get to grips with the increasing problems in our NHS.
“If action is not taken now, we risk a humanitarian crisis this winter with lives needlessly lost.”
Ms Baillie added: “If action is not taken now to avert a catastrophe in our NHS then Humza Yousaf’s position will be untenable.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “The Health Secretary is absolutely focused on ensuring Scotland’s NHS is as well-equipped as possible to tackle the huge challenges we face, which is why health spending and staffing levels have grown to record levels since 2007.”