Trolleys queue up for patients at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
By Bill Heaney
For the seventh day in a row, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has asked patients not to attend A&E unless they have a life-threatening condition.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson and Dumbarton constituency MSP Jackie Baillie said: “This is an incredibly worrying development, with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde telling patients not to go to A&E for the seventh day in a row.
“A&E across Scotland is in crisis, and here in Glasgow – on the First Minister’s and the Cabinet Secretary’s doorsteps – the system is overwhelmed.
“Staff are working tirelessly but they are being failed by an uninterested government and a complacent Cabinet Secretary.
“This has to end before more lives are needlessly put at risk.
“The Cabinet Secretary must immediately act to put in place a plan to ensure A&E clinics across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde including at the RAH where my constituents from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Balloch, Helensburgh and Lomond attend are put back on track.”
Jackie Baillie, Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf and Alex Cole Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today called for an urgent inquiry into avoidable deaths caused by the crisis in emergency care after the worst waiting times on record were registered at A&Es.
Public Health Scotland data for the week ending March 20th shows just 66.2% of attendees were seen within the 4-hour target. In addition, 2,615 patients waited more than 8 hours to be seen, and 1,015 waited for more than 12.
Last week the Royal College of Emergency Medicine warned that 240 people have died this year as a result of delays at A&E departments.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon have lost control of the situation. The emergency care crisis has reached new depths with no respite for staff.
“The A&E target was missed for years pre-pandemic because of poor workforce planning and SNP mismanagement. Staff are more frustrated than anyone because they have been sounding the alarm. They have nothing more to give. That didn’t stop the SNP-Green Government voting against our calls for an urgent Burnout Prevention Strategy.
“These figures show the existing plans have fallen flat. NHS patients and staff are in dire need of new hope. They also deserve an inquiry into the avoidable deaths connected to the emergency care crisis.”