Lothians MSP has accused ministers of being 'oblivious' to worsening A&E waiting times

Sue Webber warned wait times could ‘spiral out of control’ as the latest data showed waiting times in Scotland’s A&E wards have fallen back to their worst level since the start of the Covid pandemic.

Only 76.5 per cent of patients seen within four hours in NHS Lothian, falling short of the 95 per cent target set by the Scottish Government.

The new figures also showed an increase in lengthy waits of between 8 and 12 hours or more.

It comes after the Evening News revealed patients attending A&E at the city’s largest hospital, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, faced a 12-hour wait in recent weeks, sparking fears from union bosses over a “major crisis” caused by staff shortages.

This is the third week in a row where more than a fifth of patients across the country waited over four hours to be seen.

Ms Webber, Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP, said: “Humza Yousaf cannot continue to remain oblivious to the crisis affecting our accident and emergency departments.

“Week after week, patients are waiting hours on end after arriving to be treated at A&E in NHS Lothian.

“SNP Ministers are failing to ensure critical waiting time targets are being met, which is completely unacceptable.

“As we look to remobilise NHS services in NHS Lothian, it is time the SNP backed Scottish Conservative plans for an extra investment of £600 million in our health service, which would be used to specifically tackle waiting times.

“We cannot continue to let down patients and heroic frontline staff by allowing waiting times to potentially spiral out of control.”

Public Health Minister, Maree Todd, said: “Scotland has had the best performing core A&E departments in the whole of UK for more than six years. We recognise the additional pressure our NHS staff are facing as they work tirelessly and consistently to respond to the pandemic whilst continuing to provide vital treatment and optimal patient care. We are in daily contact with every Board and are monitoring the situation closely.

“Weekly performance is impacted due to a range of challenges including high attendances, staffing pressures due to isolation and annual leave and the continued requirement for infection control precautions which is impacting on the time people need to spend in A&E.

“To minimise pressures, we recently announced £12 million in additional funding to health boards across Scotland to support non-COVID emergency care. This immediate action will help put measures in place to reduce waiting times for urgent or emergency treatment, with a focus on boosting staffing levels and available beds.

“We continue to work with Health Boards through the Redesign of Urgent Care Programme to ensure people are seen safely and to help the public access the right care in the right place at the right time, often as close to home as possible. Through this programme, we are encouraging people to contact NHS 24 on 111 if they think they need A&E but their condition is not life threatening. This will ensure people get the right care for them and allow A&E to provide the fastest and most appropriate care for people when and where they really need it.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habitsbrought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.