A&E Waiting Times

Scotland's A&E departments are still failing to treat patients on time, that's according to figures.

91% of people were seen within four hours in the week up to the 5th April - that's 4% short of a set target.

26,261 people required emergency treatment during that time.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “Over the past week nearly every health board in Scotland saw more than nine out of 10 patients within four hours at our core A&E sites and I would like to thank NHS staff for their continued hard work to achieve this.

“This week’s slight drop in performance shows that health boards must now focus on sustaining the reduced waiting times we have recently seen and moving towards meeting our world leading targets.

“Reassuringly long waits are also continuing to remain low, with less than one per cent of patients waiting for more than eight hours – although we are clear that this must still reduce even further.

“We are continuing to support health boards in every way possible. For example, we recently confirmed our continued support to areas experiencing challenges. This included committing £5 million from the £31.5 million Performance Fund to support improvement across NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde to relieve pressure at the front door of the hospital.

“We also expanded the role of the A&E performance support team, put into the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley in January, to support the Western Infirmary by building on lessons learned in Paisley and sharing good practice across all NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde sites."