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A&E waits going in the right direction, Health Secretary insists


By PA News



Waiting times at A&E are “going in the right direction”, Scotland’s Health Secretary has said, despite opposition claims the NHS is under “unrelenting pressure”.

Figures released on Tuesday show a slight improvement in the number of people seen and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours in the week up to June 29 – rising from 67.3% to 67.6%.

The Government aims to ensure 95% of people are seen within the target time – a goal which has not been met since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Secretary welcomed the figures (Robert Perry/PA)
The Health Secretary welcomed the figures (Robert Perry/PA)

As well as the slight improvement in overall waiting times, the number of people waiting more than 12 hours to be seen also dropped from 1,146 to 940, and those waiting longer than eight hours fell from 2,913 to 2,513.

The statistics also come after it was found that May was the best single month on record for A&E waits in two years.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Latest weekly figures show A&E performance moving in the right direction.

“This is welcome progress and shows our plan to improve the NHS is working.

“Scotland’s core A&E sites have been the best performing in the UK for a decade.

“However, we know some people are still waiting too long for treatment and we are determined to address this and drive further improvement.

“Our £200 million investment will help reduce waiting times, improve capacity in hospitals and cut delayed discharges.

“It will see 150,000 extra appointments and procedures available, speeding up treatments and making it easier to see a doctor.”

Rather than recovering the health service, it and its hardworking staff continue to be under unrelenting pressure
Dr Sandesh Gulhane

But Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane accused the Health Secretary of “burying his head in the sand”.

“It is clear the many rehashed and recycled NHS recovery plans from the SNP are simply not cutting it,” he said.

“Rather than recovering the health service, it and its hardworking staff continue to be under unrelenting pressure.

“SNP ministers remain miles off meeting their own targets and their inaction is leading to tragic and avoidable deaths in emergency departments.

“The gross negligence from successive SNP health secretaries has pushed the health service to the brink of collapse and they have no plan to fix it.”

While Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is shameful that 2,513 patients are having to wait for more than eight hours in A&E departments, while 940 are waiting for over 12 hours.

“Scottish doctors have said that, under the SNP, Scotland’s NHS is ‘dying before our very eyes’ and the SNP government’s own public health minister admitted that SNP failure is now costing lives.

“Our NHS urgently needs a change in direction and a change in government.

“The reality is that John Swinney and the SNP have no meaningful plan, no strategy, and no ideas to save our NHS.

“A Scottish Labour government will make cutting waiting times and clearing the NHS backlog our day-one priority.”

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