Fewer A&E patients seen within four-hour target in October, figures show

The number of Scots being seen at A&E within the four-hour target has dropped, figures show.

According to statistics released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday, the percentage of people getting care within four hours has reached the lowest level in almost eight months.

The latest weekly figures showed 61.9% of patients at emergency departments were seen within four hours in the week ending October 12, down from 63.6% the week before.

The figures are also worse than the 64.7% weekly average for 2024.

The statistics showed that 10,459 patients waited more than four hours in A&E in total, up from 9,884 the previous week.

During the same period, 3,704 patients waited more than eight hours in A&E, while 1,589 patients waited more than 12 hours.

The Scottish Government has set a target of having 95% of patients in A&E seen and either admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours; however, it has not reached this target since July 2020.

The Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said the latest “atrocious” figures are a “damning indictment of the SNP’s management of the Scottish NHS.

“Under John Swinney, our NHS is in meltdown — with well over a third of patients forced to wait more than four hours in A&E,” Dr Gulhane said.

“These intolerable deaths are leading to a needless loss of life and causing dangerous ambulance backlogs, leaving some Scots waiting almost a day for help.

“Dedicated frontline staff are working flat out for their patients, but they aren’t miracle workers.”

With winter just around the corner, Dr Gulhane said John Swinney and Neil Gray “still haven’t set out a plan to get our health service through these difficult months”.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said Scotland’s A&E patients “deserve better”.

“Every week is the same,” he said.

“Long waits used to be vanishingly rare, but under the SNP, they are normal. We need to see action now to relieve the massive pressure on staff before winter arrives.

“Fixing the problems in social care would help to increase capacity in hospitals and help to tackle these A&E waits.”

Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie added: “Nowhere is the SNP’s failure clearer than in the state of Scotland’s NHS.

“Just last month, John Swinney acknowledged that people across the country are waiting too long in A&E departments, and yet these figures show the situation is getting worse.”

Scottish health secretary Neil Gray said: “Current A&E performance is below the levels we all wish to see – we are working closely with all boards to ensure they have the support in place to cope with peaks in demand.

“Boards are reporting higher levels of hospital occupancy which is impacting on patient flow and leading to delays.

“This is not unique to Scotland with all UK nations experiencing similar pressures. Despite this, Scotland’s core A&E departments have consistently outperformed those in England and Wales over the past decade.”

Gray said the Scottish Government is investing £200m to reduce waiting times, improve hospital flow, and minimise delayed discharges.

“We will provide direct access to specialist frailty teams in every A&E and expand Hospital at Home capacity to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026,” Gray added.

“These measures will help us shift the focus of care from acute to community.”