Dame Jackie Baillie, Health Secretary Michael Matheson and LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton.
By Bill Heaney
Under pressure Health Secretary Michael Matheson must go as unacceptable waits are persisting in A&E while infrastructure delays threaten the recovery of the entire NHS, say Scottish Labour and the LibDems.
Statistics published today have shown that for the week ending 21st January this year only 62 per cent of A&E attendances were seen within four hours.
Shockingly some 1,912 people – almost 2,000 – waited over half a day to be treated.
The situation remained bad at several vital A&E departments with 1,100 patients in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital waiting longer than the four-hour standard.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The facts are clear for all to see – while vital NHS projects are cancelled across Scotland the deadly disarray in our A&E departments continues.
“We simply cannot have thousands of lives being put in danger on a weekly basis due to this SNP Government’s catastrophic failure to support our NHS and its hardworking staff.
“Under Michael Matheson our NHS has lurched from crisis to crisis, while he has been preoccupied with saving his own job.
“The huge delays to vital capital infrastructure projects in our NHS alongside the ongoing crisis in our hospitals is a deadly combination that threatens to hold back our NHS for a generation.
“It is time for Mr Matheson to step aside.”
- 14,652 (62%) of ED attendances were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours.
- 3,831 patients spent more than 8 hours in an Emergency Department.
- 1,912 patients spent more than 12 hours in an Emergency Department.
Responding to new figures showing only 62% of people attending A&E were seen within the four hour target in the week ending 21st January, while 3,831 people waited over 8 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:
“The SNP has allowed the current waiting times we are seeing at A&E to become the new normal. Years of SNP ministerial disinterest are coming home to roost.
“Michael Matheson has been too distracted by salvaging his career to focus on the needs of staff and patients.
“Scotland needs a government laser focused on the day job. Scottish Liberal Democrats would overhaul the NHS Recovery Plan, bring forward an urgent inquiry into the hundreds of avoidable deaths linked to the emergency care crisis and implement measures which will meaningfully tackle burnout among staff.