Record number of Scots waiting over 12 hours at A&E in January, Public Health Scotland figures show

The number of people waiting more than 12 hours in Scotland’s emergency departments is the highest on record in January.

According to figures released by Public Health Scotland, 8,857 people waited more than half a day in A&E – accounting for 7.2% of all attendances – up from 6,644 in December.

The figure’s previous highest level was in December 2022, when it was 8,821.

A total of 43,240 people waited more than the Scottish Government’s target time in the same month, the second highest on record and up from 42.599 the previous month.

The only time the figure has been higher was in December of 2022, when 49,283 people waited more than four hours.

In the most recent month, 65.5% of people waited more than the target time, down slightly from 65.9% the previous week.

The number of people waiting more than eight hours also increased sharply, rising from 15,297 to 17,893 – equating to 14.6% of all attendances.

The most recent weekly figures showed some slight positivity, with the proportion of patients seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours rising to 64.1% in the week up to February 25 from 62.8% the previous week.