A&E waiting times at lowest level since September, figures show
Waiting times at Scotland’s emergency departments have dropped to their lowest level since September, figures show.
Statistics released on Tuesday show that 67.6% of Scots who went to A&E in the week up to March 16 were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
The target of 90%, set by the Scottish Government, has not been hit since the early days of the pandemic.
Despite missing the target, the most recent figure is the highest for months, which saw a downturn likely to have been caused by the winter period.
The last time the figure was as high was in September when it hit 68.6%.
Elsewhere, 1,158 people of the 26,729 attendances waited longer than 12 hours, while 2,794 waited more than eight hours.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I am encouraged by the continued improvement in weekly A&E performance which shows we are moving in the right direction.
“However, our A&E departments are still under sustained pressure with high levels of hospital occupancy impacting patient flow.
We want to shift the balance of care from acute to community and will deliver direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E in Scotland by summer 2025
“We are determined to reduce long waits and are investing £200 million of targeted funding to enhance capacity and tackle delayed discharge.
“We want to shift the balance of care from acute to community and will deliver direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E in Scotland by summer 2025.
“This will enable frail patients with complex needs to bypass A&E and receive the specialist care they need in the most suitable location for them – in turn reducing pressure on the front door of our emergency departments.”
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Thousands of Scots are still facing chaos in corridors rather than getting the treatment they need.
“Scottish Labour will reduce waiting times by freeing up hospital beds and allowing emergency NHS staff to do the jobs they were trained for once more.”
