Half a million patients have endured excessive delays in Scotland’s A&E departments since the SNP last met their own waiting-time target – exactly two years ago today.
The Scottish Government’s goal is for 95% of patients attending the country’s emergency wards to be admitted, discharged or treated within four hours of arriving.
But that target has not been met since the week ending 12 July, 2020.
The Scottish Conservatives have calculated that in the intervening period, 489,893 patients have had had to wait more than four hours to be seen at A&E wards in Scotland.
Of those, 101,647 waited more than eight hours, and 31,936 more than 12 hours.
The Scottish Conservatives say the figures are a devastating illustration of how both patients and dedicated frontline staff have suffered due to the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s NHS.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Minister Craig Hoy MSP said: “These shocking figures lay bare just how badly patients and dedicated NHS staff have been let down by the SNP over the last two years.
“It’s appalling that half a million people – almost one in 10 of the Scottish population – have had to wait over four hours to be seen.
“To wait more than half a day in a so-called emergency ward ought to be unthinkable – and yet that’s been the fate of virtually 32,000 people.
“This is not about mere inconvenience; it’s a matter of life and death, because we know that excess delays lead to needless loss of life.
“Frontline NHS staff have performed heroics over the last couple of years, and could have done no more. But they have been made to carry the can for mismanagement by the SNP Government.
“While the pandemic has made things worse, this waiting-time crisis stems from the SNP’s dreadful workforce planning over a long period, which has meant there is no slack in the system to absorb staff absences.
“It’s also clear that Humza Yousaf’s flimsy Covid Recovery Plan simply isn’t fit for purpose.
“Reaching this unwanted and depressing milestone must be the catalyst for him to finally get a grip of this huge crisis.”
Notes
The SNP Government have not met their four-hour A&E target for two years. The target is that 95% of all A&E patients should be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours of arrival at an A&E department across NHS Scotland. However, this target has not been met since the week ending 12 July 2020. (Public Health Scotland, weekly update of emergency department activity and waiting time statistics, 26 June 2022, link).
Over the last two years, almost half a million people have waited more than four hours to be seen in our A&E departments. Since the week ending 12 July 2020, a total of 489,893 people have waited more than four hours to be seen in A&E. Over the last two years, a fifth of people on average have waited more than four hours, while this year alone, three in 10 have waited in excess of the target. (Public Health Scotland, weekly update of emergency department activity and waiting time statistics, 26 June 2022, link).
More than 100,000 patients have waited longer than eight hours, with 30,000 waiting over half a day. Since the week ending 12 July 2020, a total of 101,647 people have waited over eight hours to be seen in A&E. 31,936 have waited more than 12 hours – half a day. Already this year, over 40% more people have waited over half a day (17,937) to be seen in our A&E departments than in the whole of 2021 (12,570). (Public Health Scotland, weekly update of emergency department activity and waiting time statistics, 26 June 2022, link).
Last week’s statistics revealed that more people waited over four hours to be seen than in any previous week on record. During the week ending 26 June 2022, 8,993 people waited more than four hours to be seen in A&E. That’s the highest number since records began. (Public Health Scotland, weekly update of emergency department activity and waiting time statistics, 26 June 2022, link).