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STV News
3 days ago
- Health
- STV News
Scottish Government under fire over ‘swelling' queues in A&E
The Scottish Government has come under fire from opposition parties over 'swelling' queues in A&E. More than a third of A&E patients in Scotland were forced to wait longer than four hours to be seen, and more than 1,400 people waited more than 12 hours for care at the end of May, according to the latest figures. After a couple of months of start-and-stop improvements in the spring, the wait times in accident and emergency departments across Scotland have been worsening in recent weeks. Only 65.5% of people (18,371) were seen within four hours at A&E during the week ending June 1 2025, compared to 67.1% (19,172) the previous week More than a third of patients were forced to wait more than four hours for care at the end of May, with 1,416 people were left waiting for more than 12 hours. This is higher than the 1,131 (4%) of patients waiting more than 12 hours the previous week. On Tuesday, the Scottish Government came under fire from opposition parties over 'swelling' A&E queues. 'The queues are swelling at A&E and the SNP has no realistic plan to get them down. Patients are crammed into hospital corridors while staff are trying to prop up a broken system,' Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said. 'Our NHS needs a new direction – Scottish Labour will reduce A&E queues by restoring the family doctor and freeing up hospital beds so patients can get the treatment they need.' The Scottish Tories slammed the health secretary for 'burying his head in the sand'. 'John Swinney and Neil Gray are trying to pretend that our NHS has turned a corner, but the reality is things are awful – and getting worse,' Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said. 'It's shameful that more than a third of patients are waiting longer than four hours to be seen during summer, when the pressure on A&E departments should be easing.' Gulhane added: 'Neil Gray can't keep burying his head in the sand. He needs to show some common sense and back our plan to slash NHS red tape, cut middle managers and guarantee resources will get to frontline care services.' However, the health secretary said that 'Scotland's core A&E sites have been the best performing in the UK for a decade'. 'Our emergency departments are facing sustained pressure with high levels of hospital occupancy impacting patient flow and causing delays,' Gray said. 'This situation is not unique to Scotland with all UK nations experiencing similar pressures.' He continued: 'Current A&E performance is below the levels we all wish to see and we are determined to drive improvements. 'We want to shift the balance of care from acute to community and to do this we will deliver direct access to specialist frailty teams in every emergency department by summer 2025 and expand Hospital at Home to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
A&E cannot shake off ‘deep freeze of Government incompetence'
Scotland's emergency departments cannot 'shake off the deep freeze of SNP incompetence', Scottish Labour has said. Figures released on Tuesday show A&E departments continue to struggle with waiting times, with 67.4% of patients seen within four hours in the week to March 30. That was down slightly from 68.2% the week before, but remains well short of the 95% target set by the Scottish Government. According to the figures, of the 27,441 attendances in the most recent week, 1,061 people waited longer than 12 hours to be seen, which is up proportionally from the previous week. A total of 2,788 waited longer than eight hours – a proportional drop. Responding to the figures, Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: 'Winter pressures may have eased but our NHS can't shake off the deep freeze of SNP incompetence. 'The SNP has run down the NHS but it's the hardworking staff and desperate patients who are forced to deal with the chaos in hospital corridors.' Health Secretary Neil Gray – who has been consistently under fire in recent months over pressures in the health service – pointed to improvements based on the same week last year, when 62.9% of attendances were seen within four hours. 'Our A&E departments are still facing sustained pressure with high levels of hospital occupancy impacting patient flow and causing delays,' he said. 'Despite this, latest weekly figures show more than two-thirds of patients were seen within the four-hour target and performance is up 4.5% compared with the equivalent week last year. 'We are determined to drive improvement and are working closely with all boards to ensure they have the necessary measures in place to cope with any peaks in demand. 'Our £200 million of targeted investment will improve patient flow, enhance capacity and tackle delayed discharge. 'We are shifting the balance of care from acute to community. We are expanding Hospital at Home to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026, and will deliver direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E in Scotland by summer 2025. 'This will enable frail patients with complex needs to bypass A&E and receive the specialist care they need in the most suitable location for them.'
