Shock new figures reveal that the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was operating beyond capacity for every single hour of every single day last month.
The finding – which emerged in a Freedom of Information response to the Scottish Conservatives – offers a “terrifying snapshot” of the scale of the pressure Scotland’s emergency wards are under, according to the Party.
Routine hourly checks by staff show that the hospital’s A&E capacity of 40 patients was exceeded throughout August – and on average by 200%, or 80 patients, at any given time.
Nor was last month an outlier. The NHS Lothian figures show that, since the turn of the year, Edinburgh Royal’s A&E department has, on average, been beyond capacity for 22 hours per day.
The health board also confirmed that those patients waiting to be seen are typically kept in corridors on trolleys or chairs, or asked to sit – and in exceptional circumstances stand – in the waiting room.
NHS Lothian’s problems were not confined to the Edinburgh Royal either. The A&E departments at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, the Western General and St John’s in Livingston were also operating beyond capacity for the majority of this summer.
These findings come in the wake of the worst-ever A&E waiting time stats for Scotland published last week, and ahead of a Scottish Conservative-led parliamentary debate on Wednesday on the NHS waiting-time crisis.
Shadow Health Secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane believes the situation in NHS Lothian is being mirrored across Scotland, and he has warned Humza Yousaf to act now before more lives are needlessly lost due to the excess delays patients are experiencing.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP, said: “These stats provide a terrifying snapshot of the unbearable strain frontline A&E staff are operating under in Scotland.
“I’m certain that the over-capacity crisis they reveal is not unique to NHS Lothian, because we know how bad waiting-time figures are in emergency wards across Scotland.
“But it still beggars belief to think that there was not a single moment last month when Edinburgh Royal staff weren’t battling to clear a backlog of emergency patients.
“No wonder waiting times are the worst on record when staff are constantly stretched beyond breaking point. And the tragic reality is that these excess delays lead inevitably to avoidable deaths.
“The buck stops with Humza Yousaf and the SNP Government for this crisis, and they must not attempt to shift the blame.
"Our dedicated NHS workers are burning out. Both A&E staff and patients are being let down by the SNP's dreadful workforce planning, which has left Scotland’s A&E wards dangerously under-staffed for years.
“Humza Yousaf’s flimsy Covid Recovery Plan simply isn’t fit for purpose and must be rewritten immediately.
“The most alarming thing about these figures is that they cover the height of summer, when A&E wards are traditionally quieter.
“It’s frightening to think how bad the situation will be this winter unless the Health Secretary finally gets a grip of the A&E crisis, which he has ignored for too long.”
Notes
There was not a single hour in August when the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was not overcapacity. Information released via a freedom of information request has revealed that the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was overcapacity for every hour of every day in August. The capacity of the department is 40 patients. During August, the department was overcapacity by an average of 80 patients – that’s 200% over capacity on average (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
On its busiest day this summer, the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was looking after 144 patients, that’s 260% overcapacity. Analysis of capacity during the summer months (June, July and August) reveals that the busiest day was 15 August. On that day, the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was overcapacity by 104 patients (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
This year, the A&E department at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary has been overcapacity for an average of 22 hours a day. On average, between 1 January and 31 August, the department has been overcapacity by 62 patients for an average of 22.4 hours a day (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
A&E departments are also in crisis elsewhere in NHS Lothian. At the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, which only opened in March last year, the emergency department was overcapacity by an average of 12 patients during the summer months of June, July and August, that’s 60% overcapacity (capacity at RHCY ED is 20 patients) (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
At the Western General Hospital, the A&E department was overcapacity for an average of 16 hours a day during the summer months. During June, July and August the A&E department at the WGH was overcapacity by an average of 22 patients, that’s 157%. (capacity at WGH is 14 patients) (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
On its busiest day this year, the A&E department at the Western General Hospital was looking after 59 patients, that’s 321% overcapacity. Analysis of capacity between 1 January and 31 August reveals that the joint busiest days were 25 March and 6 June. On those days, the A&E department at the WGH was overcapacity by 45 patients. (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
At St John’s Hospital in Livingston, the A&E department was overcapacity for an average of 15 hours a day during the summer months. During June, July and August, the A&E department at SJH was overcapacity by an average of 18 patients, that’s 82%. (capacity at SJH is 22 patients) (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).
According to NHS Lothian, when their A&E departments are overcapacity, patients are often placed on trollies or chairs in corridors. At the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, when the department is over capacity then patients are ‘placed in the corridors either on trolleys or chairs where appropriate. A proportion of patients will be managed from the waiting room where they will be seated on chairs (or in extremis may need to stand)’ (Scottish Conservative FOI, available on request).