Covid Scotland: A&E waiting times hit worst level since early January

Waiting times in Scotland’s emergency departments are at the worst level since early January, official figures show.
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In the week ending February 13, only 73.2 per cent of people who went to accident and emergency (A&E) were seen and subsequently admitted or discharged within the four-hour target, down from 74.4 per cent the previous week, according to figures released by Public Health Scotland.

The Scottish Government aims to ensure 95 per cent of patients are seen to within four hours – a target that has not been met since July 2020.

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Accident and emergency waiting times are at their worst level since early January. Picture: John DevlinAccident and emergency waiting times are at their worst level since early January. Picture: John Devlin
Accident and emergency waiting times are at their worst level since early January. Picture: John Devlin
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Of the 23,849 people who attended emergency departments, 498 were left waiting for more than 12 hours, while 1,417 waited more than eight hours.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said waiting times should be improving with the peak of the Omicron variant having passed.

“It’s unacceptable that more than a quarter of patients had to wait more than four hours to be seen – and intolerable that almost 500 were forced to wait half a day to be seen – because lives will be needlessly lost,” he said.

“Every week, it seems, I call on [health secretary] Humza Yousaf to get to grips with this crisis and devise a coherent plan for tackling it – but nothing changes.

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“The health secretary appears wedded to his inadequate Covid recovery plan when it’s patently obvious it isn’t fit for purpose.

“Staff on Scotland’s under-resourced A&E frontline must be at their wits’ end – they have worked heroically throughout the pandemic yet been let down by the SNP Government.”

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said “enough is enough”.

“For months Humza Yousaf has allowed our A&E departments across Scotland to stagger from crisis to crisis as thousands of Scots have waited hours and hours for vital treatment,” she said.

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“Staff on the frontline have worked tirelessly, but have been continually failed by an SNP government that has refused to admit that the NHS, our most valued service, is in crisis.

“We cannot allow dangerously lengthy waits at A&E to become the new normal.

“Enough is enough – Humza Yousaf must act to end the chaos in A&E departments before lives are lost.”

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