Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie, the RAH in Paisley and Humza Yousaf, the SNP health secretary.
By Lucy Ashton
Scottish Labour continue to call for Humza Yousaf’s resignation, as figures show another week of poor performance in A&E, as well as continued pressure caused by delayed discharge.
In the week ending 4th December, a mere 63.4 percent of attendances at A&E were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer, or discharge within four hours. At the RAH, this was just 55.2 percent.
Over 3,000 patients languished for over eight hours in an emergency department, and a further 1,276 patients were forced to suffer for more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred, or discharged.
Eighty one of those who had to wait 12 hours or more were at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley which many constituents from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Lomond attend.
This represented almost eight percent of the total number of patients who attended that week.
Only three hospitals fared worse proportionally for 12-hour waits across the whole of Scotland during the week ending 4th December.
A report published today also showed the huge pressure that delayed discharge puts on hospitals. The report, covering the financial year 2021/22, showed that 1 in 11 bed days were occupied by patients who were delayed in their discharge. This trend has only got worse in recent months.
Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie said: “Week after week the SNP show that they cannot get a handle on the crisis in our A&E departments, despite the persistent efforts of staff.
“People have been stranded for more than 12 hours in A&E across the country and these figures, coupled with abysmal delayed discharge, make this grim picture look even worse.
“The proportion of people waiting in pain for treatment at the emergency department in Paisley is higher than at most hospitals across the country. Many of the patients who attend here are from my constituency and have already made the lengthy journey, often in pain, to be seen.
“Attendances will only go up as we enter the coldest part of winter, but emergency departments are struggling as it is.
“Scottish Labour recently launched a campaign to save our NHS, but it is clear that the record-breaking Humza Yousaf is not the person for this job.
“The SNP must get a grip on this crisis and take urgent action before any more lives are lost. Our NHS is on life support- and the SNP are not doing enough to save it.”
During week ending 4 December 2022:
- There were 25,450 attendances at Emergency Departments in NHSScotland.
- 63.4 percent of ED attendances were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within four hours. At the RAH in Paisley this was 55.2 percent.
- 3,048 patients spent more than eight hours in an Emergency Department. At the RAH this was 169.
- 1,276 patients spent more than 12 hours in an Emergency Department. At the RAH this was 81.