Emergency Departments in Scotland are struggling against the combined pressures of extreme weather and a rise in hospital admissions from flu.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has described the country’s health service as being “in the depth of a winter crisis” as Scotland braces itself against snow and ice.
Yesterday, after coming under increasing pressure regarding the condition of Emergency Care in Scotland, Health Secretary Neil Gray said A&E demands had been “exacerbated by higher than normal levels of influenza infection in the community”. Data released last week showed hospital admissions caused by flu increased by 12% in a week.
The Health Secretary’s comments come as data released yesterday by Public Health Scotland revealed last November 6,429 patients waited 12 hours or more in Emergency Departments – the highest proportion of 12 hour waits for any November since records began in 2011.
Dr Fiona Hunter, Vice Chair of RCEM Scotland said: “Today’s data, and every previous month’s data, shows just how much pressure Scottish EDs were under coming into this winter.
“The system was already under extreme pressure, and this huge flu surge and cold spell are likely to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
“But it cannot – and must not – be blamed as the sole cause of the crisis we are currently experiencing.
“My colleagues are working flat out in very difficult conditions with some departments nearing 400% capacity- four times as many patients as there are cubicle spaces for. We are running on hard work and goodwill, and our patients are receiving unacceptable, undignified and unsafe care in corridors and in the back of ambulances.
“The main issue is that we can’t move our patients who desperately need admission to a hospital bed in to wards or high dependency units. These wards have the highest level ever known of patients who are ready to be discharged but have no available social support to allow them to do so.
“We are predictably gridlocked, in the depth of a winter crisis, and our patients and staff are the ones suffering.”
The 2025-26 Budget will deliver progress for the people of Scotland, with a record increase in frontline NHS spending, and plans to lift 15,000 children out of poverty by mitigating the UK Government’s two-child limit from 2026.
Setting out the Budget to Parliament, Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the government had listened and would now act on the priorities of people, businesses and organisations across the country – delivering progress for Scotland, by Scotland.
The 2025-26 Budget includes:
a record £2 billion increase in frontline NHS spending taking overall health and social care investment to £21 billion to reduce NHS waiting lists, making it easier for people to see their GP, and progress the Belford Hospital, Monklands Hospital and Edinburgh Eye Pavilion projects
funding for universal winter heating payments for older Scots, and investment to allow the mitigation of the two-child cap from 2026
tax choices that freeze income tax rates, increase the Basic and Intermediate rate thresholds to put more money in the pockets of low and middle-income earners, and provide business rates relief for hard-pressed local pubs and restaurants
a record £15 billion for local government to support the services communities rely on and £768 million to provide 8,000 more affordable homes
£4.9 billion of action on the climate and nature crises to lower emissions and energy bills, protect the environment, and create new jobs and opportunities
a real-terms uplift of 3% for spending on education and skills to maintain teacher levels and invest in school infrastructure, as well as new funding to put more breakfast clubs in primary schools
a £34 million uplift for culture in 2025-26
The Finance Secretary said: “I am proud to present a budget that delivers on the priorities of the people of Scotland.
“Parliament can show that we understand the pressures people are facing. We can choose to come together to bring hope to people, to renew our public services, and deliver a wealth of new opportunities in our economy.
“This Budget invests in public services, lifts children out of poverty, acts in the face of the climate emergency, and supports jobs and economic growth.
“It is a budget filled with hope for Scotland’s future and I look forward to working with all parties in Parliament to secure agreement around its provisions.”
£6.9 billion total investment in social security, including the Scottish Child Payment
almost £4.2 billion across the justice system in 2025-26, including £1.62 billion for policing to support capacity and capability, £881.1 million for prisons, including £347 million for the prison estate to deliver HMP Glasgow and HMP Highland, and £159 million for community justice services to support the wider use of community interventions
over £2.6 billion towards public transport to support bus, rail and ferry services and increases the dedicated funding available to the four councils operating their own ferry services to £50.3 million
over £660 million for rural communities to support the crucial contribution of Scotland’s farmers, crofters and the wider rural economy
almost £90 million to protect, maintain and increase our woodlands and peatlands, to restore more than 15,000 hectares of degraded peatland and ensure the creation of more than 11,000 hectares of woodland across Scotland
a £34 million uplift for culture in 2025-26, building on the £15.8 million increase in the last Budget to take the total incremental increase in culture funding to almost £50 million – the halfway point in our commitment to increase funding to culture and the arts by £100 million more annually by 2028-29
£6 million for the National Islands Plan to deliver infrastructure projects designed in partnership with islanders to support successful and resilient island communities
protection for free tuition and a 3.5% increase in total investment in Higher Education, compared to a 3.08% increase in university funding in England
Ben Macpherson MSP has welcomed the Scottish Government’s budget commitment to provide significant additional funding for the Granton Waterfront regeneration project, with a long-term agreement to be formalised in 2025.
Having spoken regularly about Granton in the Scottish Parliament this year, and previously, to promote the area as a strategic development site for Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole, Ben Macpherson MSP is delighted that the Scottish Government has committed financial support to significantly progress the City of Edinburgh Council’s ambitions plans.
The budget statement by Shona Robison MSP included: “I can confirm today that we will be working with Edinburgh City Council to unlock over 800 new, net zero homes at their Granton development site.”
In the Scottish Parliament, during the Budget statement and question session, Ben Macpherson MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith said: “As the local constituency MSP, I believe passionately in the significant potential for the development of Granton Waterfront to help tackle Edinburgh’s housing challenges, to transform the northern part of our capital city for the common good, and to deliver economic growth, new opportunities and multiple positive benefits for existing communities and our country more broadly – that’s why I have worked constructively to highlight all of this to Ministers, and am therefore delighted and grateful that the Finance Secretary has committed to working with City of Edinburgh Council to deliver 800 more homes.
“Can the Finance Secretary say more about the Scottish Government’s commitment to the development of Granton Waterfront – as a strategic site – and the positive impact this will deliver for the people of Northern Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole?”
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Shona Robison MSP, replied: “Ben Macpherson is absolutely right, the Granton Waterfront development is a big deal for Edinburgh, and we will work with Edinburgh Council over the coming months and hope to announce a deal on the detail early in the 2025-26 financial year to support this multi-year project.
“And I talked in my statement about it unlocking 800 new net-zero homes of mixed types and tenures but also sustainable transport links and placemaking initiatives.
“This can be a gamechanger for Edinburgh and I am very acutely aware of the housing need in Edinburgh, and I think this will go a long way to helping as part of this solution.”
Ben Macpherson MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, added: ““This is a very significant step forward towards tackling Edinburgh’s housing emergency and realising all of North Edinburgh’s remarkable potential.
“I have passionately and consistently supported the regeneration of Granton Waterfront throughout my time as the MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, and have worked to be a constructive link between the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh Council in this collective endeavour.
“The vacant and derelict land in Granton has the potential to be transformed into a new residential hub and a destination to visit for locals and tourists alike – just like in Dundee and other waterfront cities across the world. It is fantastic that the Scottish Government has committed to this vision and given pivotal financial backing to make it happen!
“Edinburgh continues to face significant, various housing challenges and building more affordable homes is crucial in helping to tackle this. With Scottish Government support, the development plans for Granton will deliver transformational change to benefit the local area and the wider economy.
“It has been a consistent priority since my election to promote and deliver more affordable housing in Northern Edinburgh – as well as accompanying infrastructure and facilities in the area, like cultural and creative hubs, opportunities for small businesses to thrive, and key services such as schools and health centres – and I look forward to seeing the development of Granton benefit the people of Edinburgh in the years ahead, and the additional investment and opportunities that will be created.”
BUDGET REACTION:
Responding to today’s Budget statement by the Finance Secretary, John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said: “The Finance Secretary is absolutely right to mitigate the two-child limit in the absence of abolition at UK level.It’s a pernicious policy that pushes 15,000 children into poverty in Scotland alone.
“Investing in social security for families is key to delivering on the First Minister’s number one priority of eradicating child poverty.
“The devil will be in the detail and families really can’t wait until 2026 to see their incomes boosted, so an above inflation increase to the Scottish child payment is still needed in the meantime.
“But there is no question this is the right focus for prioritising spend. We need the UK government take the same approach to investing in family benefits as a matter of utmost urgency.”
CHILD POVERTY ACTION GROUP
COSLA
Responding to today’s Scottish Government draft budget, Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “The two-child limit is a huge injustice that has no place in a compassionate society – because every child matters and every child should get support they need.
“We welcome the Scottish Government’s proposals today, and we hope that the UK Government works positively and quickly to get this extra support to households with children. We hope it adds to the pressure to scrap the two-child limit across the UK.
“With record numbers of children in temporary accommodation, additional investment in affordable homes and homelessness prevention is necessary and welcome. But we know that more social homes are needed to tackle the housing emergency in Scotland – meeting that challenge requires further investment.
“Many of our members have called for the Scottish Government to make up the difference for pensioners who have had Winter Fuel Payments taken away from them. They will welcome today’s plans.
“We have worked directly with people who are forced to live on a pittance by the unjust UK asylum system, and we supported their campaigns for free bus travel. It is welcome that the Scottish Government have allocated to funding to that proposal, which will increase their freedom to build a life beyond poverty and take part in society. We hope this is the start of a move to provide bus passes to more people – starting with those eligible for benefits.
“But we can do more. There are around 240,000 children in poverty in Scotland. We need to go further and faster if we are going eradicate child poverty.
“That means more immediate support through the Scottish Child Payment and using our powers over tax and investment to build a stronger society for all of us – especially people in poverty.”
POVERTY ALLIANCE
SAVE THE CHILDREN SCOTLAND
SCVO
SCOTTISH HOSPICES
“Today @scotgov announced £768m to buy or build 8k affordable homes next year. It is a sign it’s taking the housing emergency seriously but it is only a reverse of previous cuts. As a result, it’s a cut in real terms as same money buys less now compared to two years ago.
“Though it is a step forward, 8,000 homes is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed There are 243,000 people on waiting lists in Scotland. The last decades have seen the decimation of council housing because of a lack of funding, stock transfer and right to buy.
“This government needs to deliver more social housing by allocating greater funding for stock buy back and for social and council house building programmes, to ensure more people have a stable, secure, affordable place to live.”
LIVING RENT
We welcome the budget statement from the Scottish Government signalling the value it places on culture & the arts.
Culture is the beating heart of Scotland & this budget offers us all hope for a more stable, positive future.
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
Creative Scotland wholeheartedly welcomes the positive news of the substantial uplift for Culture, including Creative Scotland, in the Scottish Government’s draft budget announced today.
In 2025/26, Creative Scotland’s draft Grant-in-Aid budget from the Scottish Government will be £80m, up from £51.4m in the previous year. Included in this is an additional £20m, specifically for use in supporting the Multi-Year Funding programme and an additional £2m to support delivery of Screen Scotland’s strategy.
The Board of Creative Scotland will meet on 16 December to agree the final budget for Multi-Year Funding and a further update will be made following that meeting.
The final outcomes from the programme will be announced by the end of January.
Creative Scotland’s Chair, Robert Wilson, said: “Today’s draft budget announcement by the Scottish Government is enormously welcome. The major boost to Multi-Year Funding and other activities opens up wider opportunities, and we are grateful to the Scottish Government for this significant vote of confidence in Creative Scotland and the creative and culture sector.
“This is especially positive in the light of the long-term financial challenges the sector has been dealing with and will enable people and organisations to once again look forward with more confidence.”
CREATIVE SCOTLAND
Today’s budget released by the Scottish government is a “step in the right direction” but comes too late to ease the winter crisis already hitting some of the country’s A&Es.
This is the response from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) following the budget announcement today – Wednesday 4 December 2024 – by Finance Secretary Shona Robison MSP.
Dr Fiona Hunter, RCEM’s Vice Chair for Scotland said: “We welcome the government’s commitment to addressing many of the systemic issues that have plagued our health care system – its patients and staff – for far too long.
“However, it has not come soon enough to ease pressures faced by A&Es who are working under extreme pressure to care for patients right now.
“We restate our commitment to working with the Scottish government to bring an end to this reality and #ResuscitateEmergencyCare in Scotland, for generations to come.”
The budget statement comes just one day after an Audit Scotland report revealed the number of people remaining in hospital because their discharge has been delayed – often due to a lack of social care capacity – is the highest on record.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE
In response to today’s Scottish Government Budget,Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Independent Age said: “Older people across Scotland will be relieved to see the return of some help with winter energy bills through the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment from next year.
“For many not currently receiving Pension Credit, or those just above the eligibility, this money is desperately needed. Although not what they were originally due to receive, last week’s decision has been welcomed by older people in financial hardship across Scotland.
“It’s also good news that Scottish Social Security has been uprated with inflation, including entitlements that are important to older people, such as Pension Age Disability Payment and Winter Heating Payment. Many people in later life will be reassured that this has been confirmed.
“We are pleased to see that the Scottish Government is focussed on supporting renters. Over recent years both the number of older people renting privately and the proportion in poverty has risen. The increase in the Discretionary Housing Payment funding pot is an important lifeline to many older private renters, making up rent shortfalls, and the increased investment in social homes building should give tenants of all ages more security.
“However, it is concerning that the Scottish Welfare Fund, which can be a crucial safety net for older people when emergencies occur, such as needing help with food or heating costs, has not been increased.
“Generally, the older people in financial hardship that we speak to will feel heard by the Scottish Government today. However, we remain concerned about older people this winter. Going forward, the Scottish Government must continue to make decisions that improve the lives of older people in poverty.”
INDEPENDENT AGE
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive, LGIU Scotland,said: “We know from our annual survey that local government finances in Scotland are hanging by a thread. One in four councils are afraid they won’t be able to pass a balanced budget next year. Three quarters are warning that they may not be able to do so within the next five years. Today’s Budget from the Scottish Government does not engage with the scale of that challenge.
“Local government may welcome commitments to the New Deal with Local Government continuing work on a fiscal framework and plans to deliver new revenue raising powers. However, they will be dismayed to see how much funding continues to be ring fenced.
“There is an increase in core funding in today’s Budget but it doesn’t cover the ever growing costs of core statutory services.
“The Scottish Government has responded to the concerns of councils and has removed the freeze on council tax rises, but the Cabinet Secretary’s expectation that record funding levels should mean councils do not need to put up council tax is too complacent.
“The truth is that even with the additional funding announced today, local authorities will still need to raise council tax and make cuts to services and will still edge closer to being unable to balance their books.”
LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFORMATION UNIT
Commenting on the Finance Secretary’s Budget statement this afternoon, Director of CAMRA Scotland Stuart McMahon said:“Pub goers and licensees will be raising a glass to the news that the Scottish Government are finally introducing help with the burden of business rates that have contributed to scores of pubs having to close their doors in recent years, and at a higher rate than elsewhere on these islands.
“Pubs are a vital part of our social fabric and it is right that they will now get the same 40% reduction in business rates that pubs in England get. It is also encouraging that pubs on island communities will continue to get a 100% reduction with their business rates.
“In order to make sure our pubs survive and thrive at the heart of our communities ministers must now commit to reforming the entire Business Rates system to make it fairer. The Scottish Government should level the playing field between online and bricks-and-mortar businesses and finally end the shocking overpayment that pubs have to cough up under the current system.”
CAMRA
Mary Glasgow, chief executive at Children First said: “The Cabinet Secretary says this budget will lift children out of poverty but given that Scotland faces a childhood emergency it is difficult to see how.
“The promise of jam tomorrow, in the form of mitigating the UK two-child cap does nothing to alleviate the plight of thousands of children and families across Scotland who are going hungry today.
“We called on the Scottish Government to invest in early help and support for families and to increase the Scottish child payment. It is disappointing that they have chosen to delay investing in children rather than taking immediate action. Children can’t wait.”
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has joined calls for the Scottish government to address ‘delayed hospital discharges’ in the upcoming budget announcement.
Delayed discharges are when people are considered medically fit enough to leave hospital but are unable to, often because the required social care support is not available.
This issue means that the whole system for admitting people grinds to a halt and people can end up stranded in A&Es often waiting hours and even days for a ward bed to become available.
The latest data release comes as the Auditor General of Scotland published a damning report into the state of the Scottish health system which concluded that the Scottish Government has no clear plan to reform the country’s NHS, or to address pressures on the service.
Auditors found:
commitments to reducing waiting lists and times have not been met
the number of people remaining in hospital because their discharge has been delayed is the highest on record
and NHS initiatives to improve productivity and patient outcomes have yet to have an impact and lack clear progress reporting.
The issue of delayed discharges has also been highlighted by the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (RCPE) which has written an open letter to the First Minister calling on him to address this ‘urgent issue’ in his Government’s budget which will be unveiled tomorrow (4 December 2024).
Dr Fiona Hunter, The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Vice Chair for Scotland said yesterday: “Delayed discharges are a key reason that patients get stuck in Emergency Departments, often on trolleys in corridors – often experiencing extreme waits which are dangerous.
“So we join, and fully support, the calls from RCPE, and the Auditor General to address this issue. It must be prioritised as a matter of urgency.
“Today’s data is another timely reminder of scale of the issue. Just think about what it shows. More than 2,000 people every single day stranded in in hospital when they are well enough to go home.
“People – through no fault of their own, lying in beds which could be used for other patients who need to be admitted – who themselves are probably on a trolley in the Emergency Department, waiting for that bed to become available.
“We have to be able to move patients through our hospitals and out again when they are well enough. To do that takes a functioning and resourced social care system working alongside a functioning and resourced health system. They are inextricable.
Dr. Hunter concluded:“Tomorrow’s budget is an opportunity for the Government to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare, ahead of the depths of winter which is shaping up to be a gruelling several months ahead, for both patients and staff alike. They must take it.”
Patron of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal addressed more than 300 delegates at RCEM’s Annual Scientific Conference in Gateshead last week (10 October 2024).
Her Royal Highness praised the dedication of Emergency Medicine professionals and highlighted the work of the NHS workforce, in particular Emergency Departments, with the Covid outbreak and high workloads.
The Princess Royal was greeted at the conference venue by Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Catherine Feast, RCEM’s Director of Engagement and External Affairs.
Her Royal Highness viewed the winning submissions from the poster competition and met the designers, and then went on to meet the abstract authors, discussing their studies which focused on key issues facing Emergency Medicine.
The Princess Royal further engaged with speakers and delegates before listening to Professor Richard Body from the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, who delivered his presentation on how to optimise shared decision making for patients with chest pain.
Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “It was a great honour to welcome Her Royal Highness to our conference.
“Once again, she showed her understanding of the specialty, her interest in the people who work in it, and her awareness of the challenges it faces.
“We are so lucky to have such an engaged and passionate patron, and I know it means so much for those members who were able to meet and chat with her about their work.”
Catherine Feast, Director of Engagement and External Affairs at the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “Her Royal Highness’s presence at our Annual Scientific Conference marks the second event The Princess Royal has attended this year and we are so grateful she gives us so much of her time.
“As ever, our delegates were delighted to have her here and to hear her support for the specialty.
“She is a fabulous royal patron, and we are honoured to have had her visit us last week.”
The Princess, who has been royal patron of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine since 2008, previously attended RCEM’s trainee conference, which was also held in Gateshead in February 2024.
This is the response from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Scotland as the latest Emergency Department performance data reveals that one in every nine people waited eight hours or more to be seen in A&E last month.
The data also shows long waits have increased significantly since the 2010s.
Since May 2017, for example, the numbers waiting four hours or more has increased by nearly five times, eight hours or more by 21 times, and 12 hours or more by 89 times. Despite attendance only increasing by 0.5% in the same period.
Dr John-Paul Loughrey, RCEM Vice President for Scotland said: “It is right that the First Minister has apologised to people who have been forced to withstand treatment in corridors.
“It is unbearable for the people experiencing this loss of dignity at an already difficult time, and for the medical practitioners caring for them in impossible conditions.
“The data clearly shows that extended A&E waiting times due to overcrowding is not a new issue. It is sadly what A&E staff have come to expect.
“We once again call on the Scottish Government to take action to prevent overcrowding in Emergency Departments and the subsequent need to treat people in corridors by increasing the number of hospital beds and improving social care options so people can leave hospital when they are ready.
“I, personally, am growing weary of the inaction to rectify these longstanding issues and the resulting harms.”
“The government is duty-bound to provide the people of Scotland with safe and dignified emergency care, and now is the time to do so.”
“These figures, and our own research, clearly evidence the shameful and shocking reality of poorly patients who need to be cared for on hospital wards having to wait many hour hours, ever days, often on trolleys in corridors because there is not enough capacity in the system.
“There simply are not enough beds to admit people to, often because the people in those beds are medically well enough to go home but can’t because of inadequate or delayed social care support.
“It is not just a matter of inconvenience or lack of dignity – which is bad enough. The longer people’s in-patient admission is delayed, the greater the risk the risk to their life.
“There is no one quick fix, but the problems are fixable. RCEM is ready to work with whoever forms the next Government to begin the process of resuscitating our health system and ending these unacceptable and dangerous long waits.”
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine is urging whoever forms the next Westminster Government to ensure the Scottish executive has sufficient funding for Emergency Medicine as the country’s A&E crisis continues.
The call comes after the latest Emergency Department (ED) performance data for Scotland was released today (4 June 2024).
Published by Public Health Scotland, the data shows that in April:
112,005 people visited a major Scottish ED (down 4.6% on March 2024)
64% of those people were treated, discharged or admitted within the target time of four hours
14,237 people waited more than eight hours (12.7%) and 6,412 (5.7%) patients had to endure waits of more than 12 hours
This represents the worst four-hour, eight-hour and 12-hour performance for any April since records began in 2011.
The number of patients who were unable to leave hospital despite being well enough to do so – which is a key contributor to overcrowding in Emergency Departments – was up 12% on the same month the previous year.
Dr John-Paul Loughrey, Royal College of Emergency Medicine Vice President for Scotland, said: “Extreme waits in A&Es are degrading and dehumanising and critically they are dangerous.
“We must not allow this vitally important message to be drowned out by the posturing and political coverage which naturally comes ahead of an election.
“The crisis in our departments continues and whoever forms the next Westminster Government must be pragmatic, proactive and provide adequate resources so the devolved governments including here in Scotland can really address this issue.
“It is nothing less than our members and their patients deserve.”
A graphic illustration of the data can be found here. The full data can be found here.
A&Es in Scotland are under “constant strain” amid extended wait times and delays to patient discharge.
This is the response from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) as new Scottish National Party leader John Swinney lists the NHS as being among his “focus” points in power.
RCEM has called for the incoming First Minister, which is expected to be Mr Swinney as the only candidate, to address hospital discharge delays and extended A&E wait times.
The data, which covers March, shows slight improvement since February. However, it was the worst March since records began in 2011 for patients being seen within four hours of arriving at A&E.
In March, one in three people attending Scottish Emergency Departments waited four hours or more to be seen, one in eight waited eight hours or more, and one in 20 waited 12 hours or more.
There was a total of 58,646 days spent in hospital by people who were well enough to be discharged, but unable to leave due to inadequate social care.
Dr JP Loughrey, The Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Vice President for Scotland said: “The constant strain on staff and patients is causing an immense amount of damage. They are stuck in the danger zone of a long-wait pressure gauge without enough support to relieve this alarming situation.
“Any modest improvements on February’s figures are not enough. Scotland’s new First Minister must commit to bringing about positive change by putting the nation’s healthcare at the top of their priorities.
“Delays to patients discharge from hospital is one key area to improve upon as this blocker mean Emergency Department doctors cannot admit patients, causing unacceptably long waits that are continually getting worse.
“Delays in ambulance handovers, hospital discharges and a lack of social care provisions continue to take a toll on hardworking staff who are at their limit.
Dr Loughrey added: “The College would like to congratulate John Swinney on his appointment as SNP leader. We look forward to working together to improve Emergency Care in Scotland.”
A graphic illustration of the data can be found here. The full data set can be found here.
It is difficult to celebrate slight improvements as patients and staff bear the brunt of long waits. This is the response from The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) as the latest performance data from Public Health Scotland shows one in eight people attending A&Es in Scotland in February waited eight hours or longer to be seen.
There has been a small improvement since January – the worst month on record for A&E waiting times. However, last month was the worst February on record for four-, eight-, and twelve-hour performance in Scotland.
The data also shows: One in three patients waited four hours or more in Emergency Departments, one in eight waited eight hours or more, and one in 18 waited 12 hours or more.
Since February 2017, the numbers waiting four hours or more has increased by more five times (370%), the numbers waiting more than eight hours by 15 times (1446%), and the numbers waiting more than twelve hours by seven times (571%). This is despite attendance only increasing by 8% from February 2017.
There were 1,874 beds occupied due to delayed discharges, an increase of 8 from the previous month and the highest February on record. There was a total of 54,355 days spent in hospital by people whose discharge was delayed.
Dr Jason Long, Vice President of RCEM, said: “Any slight improvement from January is welcome, however it is difficult to celebrate when patients and staff continue to bear the brunt of long waits.
“Problems exist throughout the entire system, from ambulance pick up, to delayed discharge and a lack of social care provisions. This, of course, takes a toll on hardworking staff pushing themselves to their limits and the people facing these extended waits.
“Now is the time for change. We encourage the Scottish government to adopt our Manifesto points to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare.”
New data released yesterday (5 March 2024) for Scotland reveals January was the worst month on record for people waiting to be seen in A&E.
The figures published by Public Health Scotland show that, in January 2024:
41,161 (38%) patients waited over four hours in major Emergency Departments, a 21% increase compared to last January (33,962)
17,077 (16%) of patients waited eight hours or more in Emergency Departments, almost 13 times higher than in January 2016 (1,338)
8,402 (8%) of patients waited twelve hours or more in Emergency Departments, the largest amount for any January since records began and 36 times higher than in January 2016 (232).
There were 1,866 beds occupied due to delayed discharges, an increase of 53 compared to December 2023.
Dr JP Loughrey, Royal College of Emergency Medicine Vice President for Scotland said: “This is beyond exasperating. Most people attend A&E in desperate need – to be seen by a medical professional quickly and with dignity.
“Already struggling, patients are having to endure overcrowded waiting rooms and corridors – for hours. If admission is required, they must wait for a bed – for hours.
“This latest data makes for grim reading, and it is incredibly demoralising for my colleagues to be working under such strenuous circumstances.
“They are working all out to put patients first whilst also having to carry the burden of working in an underfunded, overcrowded, and at times unsafe emergency care system. We need intervention from the Government and policy makers to ensure we never reach this nadir again.”
The data also reports:
In January 2024, there were 108,427 attendances at major Emergency Departments in Scotland. This is marginal decrease of 0.25% compared to the previous month.
62% of patients were seen within four hours at major (Type 1) Emergency Departments. This is the worst four-hour performance for any January since records began.
This is a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to December last year and a decrease of 3.2 percentage points compared to January 2023.
41,161 (38%) patients waited over four hours in major Emergency Departments. This is a 1% increase compared to December last year (40,763) and a 21% increase compared to January 2023 (33,962).
The number of patients waiting more than four hours has increased by more than three times compared to January 2016 (9,808).
17,077 (16%) patients waited eight hours or more in Emergency Departments.
The proportion waiting this long has increased by 2% compared to the previous month, December 2023 and has increased by 2.3% compared to the previous year, January 2023.
The numbers waiting more than eight hours is almost 13 times those in January 2016 (1,338).
8,402 (8%) of patients waited twelve hours or more in Emergency Departments
This is the largest amount for any January since records began.
The proportion waiting this long has increased by almost 1% compared to December last year and has increased by more than 1% compared to January 2023.
The numbers waiting more than 12 hours is 36 times those in January 2016 (232).
There were 1,866 beds occupied due to delayed discharges, an increase of 53 compared to December 2023.
