A&E waiting times in Scotland worst ever recorded in August, new data shows

The Scottish Government has come under fire after accident and emergency waiting times figures for August were the worst ever recorded for that month.

Liberal Democrats claimed that the data showed the NHS was “teetering on the brink”, while the Tories claimed the prospects for the coming winter – for both staff and patients – were “terrifying”.

They hit out after Public Health Scotland statistics showed of the 133,454 people who went to A&E for help in August, 69.4% were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

That is the lowest percentage recorded for the month of August in figures which go back to to 2007 – and is well below the Scottish Government target of having 95% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged in four hours or less.

But 40,794 patients spent longer than that in A&E in August – with 13,303 there for eight hours or more and 5,401 there for a minimum of 12 hours.

Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “SNP ministers are continuing to preside over a permanent crisis in Scotland’s A&E departments.”

He added: “Tens of thousands of patients waited too long to be seen during August, so the prospect of what winter will bring for suffering patients and my frontline colleagues is terrifying.”

He added that the NHS winter plan unveiled by health secretary Neil Gray “offered no new solutions and showed how out-of-touch the SNP health secretary is over the scale of the crisis”.

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton commented: “The summer usually sees shorter waiting times at A&E but this year we saw the worst ever waiting times for the month of August.

“Under the SNP the NHS is teetering on the brink, staff are overwhelmed, and thousands are waiting far too long to be seen.

“As we are now moving quickly towards the winter months we have to see urgent action from the SNP now to prevent a crisis in just a few months’ time.”

Separate figures for the week ending September 22 showed that just under two thirds (65.4%) of the 27,192 patients in A&E were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours

There were 9,398 patients who spent longer than the target time in the emergency room over the course of the week, with this including 2,872 who were there for eight hours or more, and 1,176 patients who were there for at least 12 hours.

Gray said: “Although we have the best-performing core A&E departments in the UK, performance is below the level we all wish to see.

“Services are facing sustained pressure and this is not unique to Scotland – with similar challenges being felt right across the UK.

“As we head towards the winter period we are continuing to work closely with and support NHS boards to reduce long waits.

“Through our winter plan, a record number of NHS 24 call handlers will be available to direct people to the most appropriate care, helping reduce unnecessary A&E attendances.

“We are also working to address delayed discharge in hospitals with an increased focus on effective discharge planning.”

The health secretary added: “This year’s Scottish Budget provides more than £19.5bn for health and social care and an extra £500m for frontline boards.”