The Scottish Government must take urgent action to prevent A&E waiting times spiraling out of control, Scottish Labour has warned.
Statistics published today have revealed in May this year only 87 per cent of A&E patients were seen within the four-hour target.
Some 1,782 people were made to wait more than eight hours and 407 people were not treated within 12 hours of arriving at A&E.
Despite a considerable drop (13.7 per cent) in the number of people attending A&E compared to May 2019, today’s statistics show that the proportion of people being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours has fallen and more people are waiting longer for treatment.
Last week, the Royal College for Emergency Medicine reported serious shortages on the NHS frontline and warned that many medics are at risk of burnout.
With A&E attendance now at its highest since the beginning of the pandemic, Scottish Labour has called for action from Humza Yousaf to prevent an “A&E crisis.”
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “These statistics plainly show that our A&E services are under increasing strain and that the Scottish Government’s eye is simply not on the ball.
“We cannot have thousands of patients in pain for hours and hours in A&E clinics but unless other services are properly remobilised patients will feel they have nowhere else to turn.
“It’s high time that the SNP government takes action to support and properly resource frontline medics so that an A&E crisis can be averted.”
STATISTICS:
The number of people attending A&E in May 2021 was at the highest level since February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
Compared with May 2019, despite lower numbers attending, a higher proportion of people waited over 4 hours – 12.9% compared with 9.3%. More people also waited over 8 hours and 12 hours in A&E in May 2021 compared with May 2019 – table below.
During May 2021:
- There were 129,444 attendances at A&E services in Scotland.
- 87.1% of attendances at A&E services were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours.
- 1,782 (1.4%) patients spent more than 8 hours in an A&E department.
- 407 (0.3%) patients spent more than 12 hours in an A&E department.
- 26.9% of attendances led to an admission to hospital.
Compared with May 2019:
| May 2019 | May 2021 | % difference | |
| Attendances | 153,083 | 129,444 | -13.7% |
| % seen in 4 hours | 90.7% | 87.1% | -4% |
| Number waiting over 8 hours | 1,163 | 1,782 | 53.2% |
| Noumber waiting over 12 hours | 204 | 407 | 99.5% |
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrats have called on the SNP to address their “legacy” of delayed discharges, as new figures show the number of patients getting stuck in hospital is creeping back up once again.
New figures show that in May 2021, the average number of beds occupied per day due to delayed discharges was 1,140. This number has been increasing since the emergency interventions at the beginning of the pandemic.
The census showed that health and social care reasons accounted for over half (58%) of the delays reported, as the reason behind delays for 531 patients.
“It can drag down your health to be in hospital when you should be cared for in the community.
“The NHS is under pressure like never before. Time is precious. The more staff tied up because care packages are not in place, the harder it is to deal with the day to day demands.
“A new and improved care system can’t get lost in the weeds of new centralised boards and bureaucracies, which is the risk of a National Care Service. The government should instead get on and establish new national care standards that patients can depend on, backed by a step change in pay, conditions and careers for the social care staff.”