“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.”
New figures show 137 children waiting more for a year for mental health treatment
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, is calling for the Scottish Government to renew its focus on tackling the child mental health emergency.
The SCSC has also warned that the Scottish Government is in in danger of missing its Programme for Government commitment to Increase direct investment into mental health by the end of the parliamentary term, noting that only 75p in every £100 is spent on specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
While health is a devolved matter, it has also noted that the General Election provides an ideal opportunity to talk about this crucial matter in Scotland.
The call comes as the latest waiting time figures from Public Health Scotland, published on 4th June, indicate that 137 children and young people had been waiting over a year for treatment from CAMHS in the quarter ending March 2024.
The figures also show that a total of 5,557 children and young people were still stuck on waiting lists to start treatment at the end of that quarter.
In addition, just 86.0 per cent of patients with mental health problems were seen within 18 weeks from referral to treatment at CAMHS. This falls short of the Scottish Government’s waiting time target of 90 per cent being seen within 18 weeks.
This comes against the background of an increasing level of violent incidents in the classroom, a result in part due to the current mental health emergency, exacerbated by the long shadow of the Covid lockdown and cost-of-living crisis.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, cases of poor mental health in children and young people were at unprecedented levels, with under-resourced services struggling to keep pace with growing demand, leaving an increasing number of vulnerable individuals unable to access support.
The Scottish Government in its NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 committed to Increase direct investment into mental health by the end of the parliamentary term in 2026, ensuring that 10 per cent of the frontline NHS budget is invested in mental health, with 1 per cent directed specifically to children and young people through CAMHS.2
However, it should be noted that despite greatly increased demand, only 0.75% of the total frontline NHS budget was spent on CAMHS in the 2022/23 financial year, amounting to £114.799 million (real terms), just 75p in every £100 of the NHS budget.
The mental health budget overall amounts to only 8.53% of total frontline NHS expenditure, a decrease of 0.59% from 9.12% in the past decade (2011/12).3
The SCSC is calling the Scottish Government to refocus on the treatment of mental health issues, prioritising spending and avoiding a potential lost generation of children and young people with mental health problems.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “The latest figures, highlighting that 137 children and young people have been waiting over a year for treatment from mental health services, is extremely alarming.
“We are facing a mental health emergency, and many of our children and young people are at breaking point, with stress and anxiety reaching alarming levels. Despite this, too many are waiting too long for treatment, and if the Scottish Government is to reach its financial commitment to spend 1 per cent of the frontline NHS budget on CAMHS, it will need to radically increase investment.
“While health is a devolved matter, this General Election provides an opportunity to talk about it, and we would urge the Scottish Government to refocus its efforts on delivering services that adequately address the needs of our children and young people.”
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.
NHS Lothian has the longest patients waiting times for treatment, with 69.1% of total patients waiting over 12 weeks.2382 out of 3448 paediatric patients in NHS Lothian waited over 12 weeks for treatment.
In NHS Highland 48.9% of patients were waiting over 12 weeks at that time. This is in comparison to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where over 12 week waits made up only 19.2%, and NHS Grampian which stood at 12.9%.
The report by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Worried and waiting: A review of paediatric waiting times in Scotland 2024, stated that –
‘It is worrying that children and young people are waiting longer than 12 weeks to be seen in paediatrics. However, what is the most concerning is that in September 2023, 13 out of 14 health boards in Scotland were experiencing very high waits over 12 weeks, with only NHS Western Isles achieving the national standard rate.‘
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said:“It is extremely concerning that young people in Lothian are waiting over 12 weeks for treatment.
“Over two thirds of young people are now waiting over the 12 week waiting target which is unacceptable.
“SNP mismanagement of our NHS means that hundreds of children are not being seen a quickly as they should be, nowhere more so than in NHS Lothian.
“We urgently need to see our health service properly run.
“It is also important that NHS Lothian receives funding parity with other health boards.
“This tired SNP Government has had no answers for years.”
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.
Lothian Labour MSP, Sarah Boyack, has criticised the Scottish Government’s failure to address woeful waiting times at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
The latest figures published by Public Health Scotland, show that only 46% of A&E Patients at the Royal Infirmary, are seen within 4 hours. This is compared to 62% across the whole of NHS Lothian Health Board, and 68% across the whole of Scotland.
The number of patients seen within 4 hours, has plummeted almost 10% since July – falling from 55%.
The Royal Infirmary figures are well short of the Scottish Government’s target of 95% of people seen and discharged within 4 hours of arrival in A&E.
Commenting on the statistics, Sarah Boyack said:“The latest A&E wait time figures illustrate that patients at Edinburgh’s largest hospital are left waiting by the SNP/Green Government.
“Royal Infirmary staff work incredibly hard to deliver services for patients, but the Scottish Government has not provided the resources to ensure local hospitals can deliver the care and treatment local residents deserve.
“Edinburgh residents need the Scottish Government to step up its game and provide the Royal Infirmary with the support it needs reduce waiting times rapidly.”
More than TEN TIMES as many people waited over 12 hours in Scottish A&Es in August 2023 than in August 2019 – an increase branded ‘dangerous and shameful’ by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
The figure has been calculated using data published yesterday (3 October 2023) by Public Health Scotland and reveals how many people visited a major Emergency Department in Scotland in August 2023.
116,673 people visited a major Emergency Department in Scotland – almost 6,000 more than the previous month (110,854).
67.90% of patients were seen within four-hours at major Emergency Departments.
This is a decrease of 1.7% from the previous month.
37,415 patients waited more than four-hours in major Emergency Departments, which is a 9.8% increase from the previous month and an 5.3% decrease from August 2022.
10,793 (9%) patients waited eight-hours or more in an Emergency Department
This is an increase of 2% from the previous month. But a 1.9% decrease compared with August 2022.
3,847 (3%) patients waited more than 12-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
This figure has increased 0.9% from the previous month, but decreased by 1% compared with August 2022.
There were 1,797 beds occupied due to delayed discharges, the most for any August on record.
Responding to the figures, Dr John-Paul Loughrey, RCEM Vice President for Scotland, said: “When you compare figures month-on-month you only get a snapshot of what is happening, but when you take a longer view it reveals the bigger, much more concerning picture.
“To think that in just three years we have seen the percentage of people experiencing extreme waits increasing so significantly is shocking.
“But worse than that it is shameful, and it is dangerous. We know long waits increase the risk of people dying.
“The system is stretched to beyond capacity. Nobody wants to be in this situation – not patients and certainly not clinicians. And this should not be blamed on the pandemic – it is symptomatic of a much wider issue.
“In the short term, we need decisive and urgent action from the Scottish Government to avert what is looking like an inevitable winter A&E crisis, but we also need and effective long-term strategy to reverse this unacceptable situation.”
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC), an alliance of leading providers of specialist care and education to vulnerable children and young people, is calling on all Scotland’s political parties to come together and make mental health a key focus.
The call comes as new waiting time figures out yesterday (6th June), highlight that 469 children and young people had been languishing on waiting lists for more than a year for treatment from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) at the quarter ending March 2023.1
Indeed, just 74.2 per cent of patients with mental health problems were seen within 18 weeks of referral to CAMHS, with more than a quarter waiting longer than this time. This is short of the Scottish Government’s waiting time target of 90 per cent being seen within 18 weeks. 1
The new figures indicate that it has failed to deliver a key pledge to clear waiting lists by March 2023, as outlined in the NHS Recovery Plan.2
Figures also show that as many as 7,701 children and young people were still stuck on waiting lists to start treatment at the end of the quarter ending March 2023, an increase of 138 on the previous quarter ending December 2022.
The new figures are set against the backdrop of a mental health emergency, which is set to worsen given the cost-of-living crisis and services already at breaking point.
The SCSC is calling on a cross party approach to prioritise spending on mental health, avoiding a potential lost generation of children and young people with mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and self-harm.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, cases of poor mental health in children and young people were at unprecedented levels, with under-resourced services struggling to keep pace with growing demand, leaving an increasing number of vulnerable individuals unable to access support. Children and young people are still battling with the long shadow of lockdown, and the rising cost of living is adding to the pressure.
A spokesperson for the SCSC commented: “The latest figures highlighting that more than 460 of our children and young people have been languishing on waiting lists for treatment more than a year is extremely alarming.
“Disturbingly, this means that the Scottish Government has totally failed to achieve its pledge to clear waiting lists by March 2023, leaving many thousands of children and young people waiting for treatment.
“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic demand for already overstretched and under-resourced mental health services was increasing. The mental health of our children and young people has deteriorated markedly over the past decade, and both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis are making matters even worse, creating a potential lost generation of vulnerable children and young people.
“We are facing a mental health emergency and many of our children and young people are at breaking point, with stress and anxiety reaching alarming levels as they battle with the long shadow of lockdown and the rising cost of living.
“We must make the delivery of adequately resourced mental health services for our children and young people an absolute priority and would urge all of Scotland’s political parties to come together and make this a reality.”
The Scottish Government’s resilience committee (SGoRR) met again yesterday to discuss the challenges facing health and social care this winter.
Chaired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the meeting focussed on hospital occupancy, and the measures being taken to reduce levels of delayed discharge and find care placements and packages for those clinically fit to leave hospital.
The most recent A&E statistics have shown a continued improvement in performance, with 70.1% of people being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours – the best performance since May.
Additional funding has also been made available Health and Social Care Partnerships who have the responsibility of providing care packages for those in their locality, to provide 300 interim care home beds for people who no longer need to be in hospital. So far, 162 people have entered interim care facilities paid for using this additional funding.
The SGoRR meeting was also attended by the Health Secretary, other cabinet ministers, the Chief Medical Officer and senior representatives from NHS boards, COSLA, Integration Joint Boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The First Minister said: “The continued improvement in A&E performance is something to be welcomed, but there is still much work being done on safely freeing up hospital capacity and easing pressures elsewhere in the system. That is why we are continuing to pursue a range of measures to enable people to leave hospital as soon as possible when it is clinically safe for them to do so.
“We remain indebted to the health and social care staff in all parts of Scotland who have continued to do an outstanding job, despite the extra challenges that winter has presented.”
Humza Yousaf must be sacked for ‘dangerous negligence’, Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack has said, as the party revealed that the number of patients waiting over 12 hours to be seen in Accident and Emergency in Lothian has soared.
Statistics have shown that, in the year from November 2021 to October 2022, a shocking 15,936 people in NHS Lothian spent more than 12 hours in A&E waiting to be seen – despite an SNP government commitment to see 95% of patients within four hours.
This figure has spiralled in recent years, with the number of people waiting more than 12 hours now around 18 times higher than the same period in 2018/19.
With A&E services in disarray and the situation only worsening throughout the winter, Scottish Labour is warning that lives will be lost due to the SNP-created A&E crisis.
Scottish Labour MSP Sarah Boyack said: “The facts are plain for all to see – NHS Lothian’s A&E services have been plunged into a deadly freefall by Humza Yousaf’s dangerous negligence.
“Despite the efforts of hardworking staff, the number of patients spending a shocking 12 hours waiting in A&E has soared this year.
“The SNP’s mismanagement of our NHS is putting lives at risk – we urgently need a real plan to put a stop to this chaos and protect services in Lothian.”
The Scottish Conservatives are also calling for Yousaf’s sacking. A spokesperson said: “With each passing week, Humza Yousaf continues to preside over complete chaos in our A&E departments.
“His tenure as Health Secretary has been nothing short of a disaster and Nicola Sturgeon must sack him immediately.”
Number of A&E patients waiting more than 12 hours:
