By Bill Heaney
Jackie Baillie has said that the SNP government’s complete failure to support our NHS is putting lives at risk, while health bosses issued warnings over seven consecutive days telling people not to show up to A&E unless absolutely necessary.
Statistics for the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley fell short of the national average again meaning patients from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Balloch, Helensburgh and Lomond have been left waiting for longer than most other people in Scotland.
Figures published this morning have shown that, during the week ending March 20th, some 419 people (61.7 percent) waited over four hours to be seen at the RAH’s A&E, with 162 waiting over eight hours.
Shockingly, 52 people were left waiting at the Paisley hospital for more than 12 hours to be seen.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie and SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf.
Last week Dr John Thomson, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Scotland, stated that there was “clear evidence that long waits in emergency departments are directly associated with patient death”. The RCEM has estimated that up to mid-March this year there have been 240 avoidable deaths in emergency departments.
He also challenged the myth, often pushed by the Scottish Government Ministers, that our A&E departments are operating better than other parts of the UK: “The rhetoric of, ‘it’s bad but we’re not as bad as elsewhere”, is no longer applicable. We are just as bad as the rest of the UK.”
Dumbarton constituency MSP Jackie Baillie said: “Another week and another record-breaking failure in A&E due to the SNP. Staff, including those at the RAH where my constituents attend, are working tirelessly but they are being completely failed by Humza Yousaf and his SNP government.
“Thousands of lives are now being risked in A&E departments on a weekly basis – this is completely unacceptable. Experts have warned that hundreds of lives have been lost due to the crisis in A&E.
“It’s about time that Humza Yousaf realised that he is a government minister and not a commentator on this crisis. Humza Yousaf must act to support NHS services before more lives are needlessly lost.”