Half-day waits in Accident and Emergency reach record high

The number of patients spending more than half a day in Scottish Accident and Emergency departments has reached its highest level, figures show.

Weekly statistics published by Public Health Scotland revealed that more than 600 people waited more than 12 hours in the week up to 10 October.

About 71% were seen within four hours, below the government target of 95%.

The Scottish government said the pandemic was "inevitably" affecting A&E waiting times.

While the Scottish government's target states 95% of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, just 71.3% were dealt with in that time - matching the record low achieved the previous week.

Meanwhile, the most recent weekly figures from Public Health Scotland show that of the 25,335 people who went to an emergency department, 1,871 of them spent eight hours or more there.

That included 612 people who spent 12 hours or longer waiting for treatment - the highest number since weekly records began.

The three island health boards - NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney and NHS Western Isles - all managed to treat more than 95% of emergency department patients within the four-hour target time.

But no mainland health boards managed to achieve this and in NHS Forth Valley just 41% of patients were dealt with in this time.

It comes as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to put the NHS under pressure, with a number of health boards having called for the army to help them deal with staff shortages.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf recently announced an additional £300m for the NHS, but warned the health service still faced an "incredibly difficult winter".

Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said Scotland's emergency departments were in "complete crisis".

"The support from the British Army is hugely welcome," he said.

"However, Humza Yousaf seems more interested in getting photo ops rather than urgently outlining how he will maximise that support at every turn to support overwhelmed staff."

The Scottish government said in a statement: "The Covid pandemic has inevitably affected A&E attendance and the pressure is being felt across the UK."

A spokeswoman added that A&E departments in Scotland had performed better than those in the rest of the UK for more than six years.

"As part of the NHS Recovery Plan we have committed £27m towards the Redesign of Urgent Care to ensure people receive the right care, at the right place," she said.

"To minimise pressures as much as possible this winter, we've recently announced £300m of measures to help increase NHS and social care capacity in our hospitals and reduce delayed discharges."