Scottish A&E four-hour wait numbers hit record high

The number of patients at Scotland's A&E departments waiting longer than four hours has grown to the highest on record, new figures show.

Data from Public Health Scotland shows that 8,993 people waited more than the Scottish government's target time in the week to 26 June.

The previous highest total was 8,631 in the week to 20 March.

The Scottish government said the rising number of Covid in-patients was having a detrimental impact on delays in A&E.

The Scottish government has a target of dealing with 95% of A&E patients within four hours which has not been met since July 2020.

It began publishing weekly A&E statistics in February 2015 when meeting the target dropped to 86%.

The latest figures show that in the week up to 26 June, nearly a third of people waited more than four hours in emergency departments.

Just 67.5% of the 27,646 attendances were seen in the time frame, well short of the 95% government target.

At the end of March, a record low of 66.2% were dealt within the four-hour time frame but there were fewer people attending A&E so the actual number of patients was less.

The latest figures also showed 2,562 patients spent more than eight hours in an A&E department and 761 patients were in A&E for more than 12 hours.

Both totals were just below the record numbers seen at the end of March.

A spokesman for the Scottish government said that, despite Covid pressures, "nearly two-thirds of patients are being seen in our A&E departments within the four-hour target".

He added: "We continue to see high levels of Covid transmission and people in hospitals with the virus which is resulting in reduced capacity in our hospitals and staff absence.

"We encourage people to think carefully before going to an emergency department and for many A&E will not be the right place for their healthcare need.

"People should consider whether their condition is an emergency, such as a stroke, heart attack or major trauma. NHS 24 is available for those who think they need A&E but it is not an emergency."

The Scottish Conservatives said the latest figures showed the Scottish government's Covid Recovery Plan was "flimsy" and not fit for purpose.

The party's health spokesman Craig Hoy said: "It's a measure of the scale of the crisis in Scotland's A&E wards that at the height of summer, when the pressure ought to be easing, the already-dire waiting times stats are actually getting worse.

"It's simply unacceptable that a third of patients are having to wait more than four hours to be seen - and that almost a thousand people in the space of a week waited at least half a day - because we know that excess delays lead to needless deaths."

Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: "The facts are clear - despite the heroic efforts of NHS staff, our NHS is heading for a summer of chaos.

"Staff are working tirelessly around the clock, but lives are being put at risk due to the SNP's failure to support the NHS."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called on health secretary Humza Yousaf to "finally move his focus back to the A&E crisis".

He added: "Week after week, we are seeing NHS patients and staff in need of new hope, but little significant action from this SNP-Green government to provide it.

"Patients deserve to be seen for treatment quickly and close to home, and staff shouldn't be constantly overwhelmed. But after 15 years of SNP mismanagement that seems less likely than ever."