Alison Johnstone MSP, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens,has welcomed a review of NHS staffing as figures showed a big increase in the number of people waiting to seen at Accident & Emergency departments.
The percentage of people seen and discharged with 4 hours fell from 93.5% in the week ending 25 December to 92.3% in the week ending 1 January and 87.9% in the week ending 8 January.
Over the same period the number of people waiting over 8 hours to be seen rose from 75 to 454 and the number waiting over 12 hours rose from 6 to 101.
Alison Johnstone said: “The pressures our hospitals face over the Christmas and New Year period are not new, so it’s a worry that NHS management and Scottish Ministers don’t appear to have been better prepared. It will have been a frustrating and stressful experience for people having to wait so long for treatment.
“The Health Secretary’s review of NHS staffing levels, including GPs and social care, is welcome but will be of little comfort to those affected in recent weeks. The findings must be acted upon so we don’t have a repeat of such confusion in our hospitals.”
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