OVER 4337 PEOPLE WAITED TOO LONG AT H&I A&E IN 2018
Over 4337 people waited too long at H&I A&E departments in 2018, new figures released today reveal.
Data published by ISD Scotland reveals that 3600 people waited more than 4 hours at NHS Highland Accident and Emergency Departments last year, with 194 waiting over 8 hours. 257 waited more than 4 hours in NHS Orkney. 278 in NHS Shetland and 102 in NHS Western Isles.
Scottish Labour said the figures evidenced the stress our health service is under, with overworked staff facing crowded A&E departments because of mismanagement elsewhere in the health service – such as staffing vacancies in social care and primary care.
David Stewart, Highlands and Islands Regional MSP and Shadow Minister for Health said:
“Patients and staff deserve better than this.
“I have been concerned about the pressures on the NHS for some time and these figures expose the scale of the challenge NHS staff face in delivering patient care and how badly they have been let down by years of SNP mismanagement of our NHS.
“A&E is the front door of the hospital, and the pulse check of our NHS as a whole. Increasing numbers of people waiting too long at A&E reveals unacceptable pressure in other parts of our health service such as in social care and primary care.
“We already know that staff do not feel they are getting enough support and that the level of unfilled health posts is unsustainable.
“Ministers set the health service targets for staff to hit and then do not deliver the support and resources needed. It simply isn’t good enough.”
| Waiting over 4 hours | Waiting over 8 hours | Waiting over 12 hours | ||||
| Health Board | Total | % change from 2017 | Total | % change from 2017 | Total | % change from 2017 |
| NHS Ayrshire & Arran | 7718 | 9.9% | 1938 | 48.4% | 513 | 51.3% |
| NHS Borders | 2424 | 31.5% | 197 | 58.9% | 57 | 67.6% |
| NHS Dumfries & Galloway | 3736 | 6.8% | 370 | 132.7% | 28 | 133.3% |
| NHS Fife | 3881 | -9.9% | 230 | -36.1% | 25 | -49.0% |
| NHS Forth Valley | 12701 | 88.3% | 1627 | 162.8% | 453 | 277.5% |
| NHS Grampian | 7428 | 29.1% | 287 | 47.2% | 20 | 100.0% |
| NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde | 42834 | 11.7% | 3394 | 23.0% | 303 | 20.2% |
| NHS Highland | 3600 | 12.8% | 194 | 29.3% | 12 | -33.3% |
| NHS Lanarkshire | 18908 | 8.7% | 1916 | -11.0% | 434 | -18.4% |
| NHS Lothian | 36799 | 144.7% | 4332 | 99.3% | 1060 | 136.1% |
| NHS Orkney | 257 | 14.2% | 3 | -50.0% | 0 | – |
| NHS Shetland | 278 | 16.3% | 8 | 166.7% | 0 | -100.0% |
| NHS Tayside | 2372 | 12.4% | 39 | -4.9% | 3 | 200.0% |
| NHS Western Isles | 102 | 96.2% | 1 | – | 0 | – |
| Scotland | 143038 | 35.3% | 14509 | 44.8% | 2908 | 60.0% |
Source: Labour analysis of data available from ISD here: https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Emergency-Care/Publications/data-tables2017.asp?id=2329#2329