By Lucy Ashton
New SNP Health Secretary Neil Gray has taken over an NHS that is “fighting for its life” Scottish Labour has warned.
A series of new reports have shown that in January 2024 – the month before scandal-hit former-Health Secretary Michael Matheson was forced to resign – the pressures on our NHS continued to mount.
The crisis in A&E continued, with just 65.5 per cent of attendances being seen, admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours.
The number of people stranded in A&E for more than 8 hours soared to a staggering 17,893 people, and while the number waiting more than half a day rose to 8,857.
In January 2024 there were 57,860 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed – higher than the same point in 2023.
Operations continue to lag well below pre-pandemic levels, with the number of operations planned in January 2024 16.2 per cent lower than January 2020. When comparing activity for the last twelve months compared to the same point pre-pandemic, there were 55,000 fewer operations.
The immense pressure on hospitals has impacted on patients, with 668 patients getting their operation cancelled at a day’s notice for non-clinical/capacity reasons.
Scottish Labour warned that “17 years of SNP incompetence” has left the new Health Secretary with a hugely challenging task.
Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie, left, said “The new Health Secretary has been put in charge of an NHS that is fighting for its life.
“This chaos is not just the handiwork of Michael Matheson or Humza Yousaf before him – it is the culmination of 17 years of SNP incompetence.
“Patients are being left stranded for hours on end because overstretched A&Es simply cannot cope.
“Years after the SNP pledged to end the practice, sky-high levels of delayed discharge continue to pile added pressure on struggling hospitals and undermine patient wellbeing.
“Despite the extraordinary efforts of NHS staff, hospitals simply cannot cope with the number of planned operations still well below pre-pandemic, whilst hundreds of patients are getting operations cancelled at the last minute.
“Neil Gray has a huge challenge ahead to tackle this crisis and bring our NHS back from the brink, but it is essential that he does so.
“Scottish Labour is committed to improving social care, tackling delayed discharge, supporting NHS staff, and delivering a real catch-up plan.”
A&E waits, January 2024
- 82,004 (65.5%) of A&E attendances were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer or discharge within 4 hours.
- 17,893 patients spent more than 8 hours in A&E.
- 8,857 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E.
Cancelled planned operations, Month Ending 31 January 2024
- Activity remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. When comparing to January 2020 (28,863), there were 16.2% fewer operations planned during the latest month.
- Of all planned operations during January 2024 in NHS Scotland, 668 were cancelled by the hospital due to capacity or non-clinical reasons.
|
Planned ops activity |
|
|
Feb 2019 – Jan 2020 |
337,412 |
|
Feb 2023 – Jan 2024 |
281,639 |
|
% change |
-17% |
Delayed discharges, January 2024
- There were 57,860 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed. This is a 2% increase from the number of delayed days in January 2023 (56,826).