Doctors problem warning about ‘dangerous’ waiting times of A&E

The Scottish government has been urged to take immediate measures to address the “unacceptable” and “dangerous” waiting times of A&E by an industry agency.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), which established and monitors the standards in the accidents and emergency departments, said that the number of patients waiting for more than 12 hours in A&E is 99 times greater than 14 years ago.

Statistics, based on Public Health Scotland Figures (PHS), show that 76,346 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E in 2024, compared to 784 in 2011.

The Scottish government said it was determined to promote improvement and that it has met with the RCEM to listen and provide updates on the measures that are being taken.

The RCEM analysis of the figures suggests three times more people that many people waited more than 12 hours in Scottish accidents and emergencies in 2024 than in the full decade until 2020.

They said that one in 18 patients who entered emergency rooms last year waited more than 12 hours.

Dr. John-Paul Loughrey, the Vice President of Scotland of the RCEM, said: “When you look at the data in the last 14 years, the reality of the number of people who now face extremely long waiting in this country is surprisingly clear.

“It is unacceptable, and is dangerous, and many of these patients will be trapped in cars that receive the so -called ‘corridor care’, because we simply do not have enough beds for hospitalized patients.”

Dr. Loughrey said that although Scotland was the best in the United Kingdom, being the “least worse” was not something praised.

He added: “These long waiting are put at risk of lives and put them in short must be a political priority.”

Phs figures show that waiting times have begun to increase in 2016, when 1,005 experienced waiting for more than 12 hours in A & e, before increasing drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also show that December last year was the second worst since the records began in 2011 for patients who experienced four, eight and 12 hours of waiting.

The RCEM said that the waiting times could be due to the lack of beds for hospitalized patients and at the latest, often due to the lack of social care support.

In December, 61,706 days were passed in hospital beds by people who did not medically need there, an increase of 6% compared to the same month in 2023, said the RCEM.

The RCEM found that 76,346 patients in Scotland waited more than a dozen hours in A&E in 2024, while PHS data put this slightly higher number, at 77,563.

The discrepancy could be due to the RCEM making its calculations at the time the PH data was first released. Since then it has been reviewed due to a change in the definitions surrounding A&E waiting times.

A spokesman for the public health agency said: “There are slight differences in the RCEM file figures compared to PHS figures by 2020 onwards, that we believe that they are likely to be related to the changes with the definitions used for our statistics of A & e, to align with the 4 hours reviewed.

“PHS has now received a copy of the RCEM file numbers and will investigate more to confirm.”

Prime Minister John Swinney has committed to putting the NHS of Scotland in a “Road of modernization and renewal” and address high waiting times and delayed download.

Swinney also announced plans to Deliver 150,000 additional appointments and procedures during the next year.

The Secretary of Health, Neil Gray said: “Our A&E departments have continued to face significant pressure, but this is not limited to Scotland.

“The Scottish government is determined to boost improvements, reduce waiting lists and address lateral high, all of which will improve patients through the hospital and relieve pressures in A&E.

“I met with the RCEM earlier this week and took the opportunity to listen and provide updates on the action we are taking to support improvements and reduce delays for patients.

“If Parliament goes through Parliament, our budget will provide additional 200 million to help delays, improve capacity and eliminate blockages that keep patients in the hospital for more time than necessary, ensuring that we can provide the best service possible for patients. “

The spokeswoman for the Scottish Labor Health, Jackie Baillie, said: “This condemnatory analysis exposes the disastrous scale of the crisis in our NHS under the SNP.

“Despite many warm words and empty promises, successive SNP health secretaries and prime ministers have not been able to face this crisis.”

The Scottish conservative health spokesman, Dr. Sandesh Gulhane, accused the SNP of allowing Scotland NHS “to fall into a state of permanent crisis” without “without a cure to fix it.”

He added: “It is quite bad that a third of the patients are not seen routinely within the objective of four hours of the SNP, but it is frankly dangerous that tens of thousands wait more than half day last year to be seen.”

The Scottish liberal democratic leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the SNP had “failed to patients and personnel throughout Scotland.”

“Despite the warning of the NHS personnel about these conditions for years, SNP governments have not been able to give them the beds and the sure staff they need,” he said.

He added: “We have seen a record number of people who cannot leave the hospital in time due to the crisis in community care. It shows that the NHS crisis cannot be fixed without fixing the social care crisis.”