Record number of people waiting more than eight hours at A&E

The number of people waiting more than four, eight and 12 hours at Scotland's emergency departments has hit its highest recorded level, official figures have shown.

The Scottish Government set a target of 95% of people being seen and subsequently discharged or admitted to hospital within four hours - which has not been hit since 2017.

The number of people waiting half a day was the highest recorded since at least February 2015 during the week up to March 13, the Public Health Scotland figures show.

Some 747 people waited longer than 12 hours - more than the 710 in the week ending January 9.

Meanwhile, the number of people waiting for eight hours or longer is the highest on record, according to the figures, with 2,216 of the 25,615 attendances waiting more than double the target time.

The number not seen in the Scottish Government's target time was also the highest recorded at 8,091.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said the figures were "deplorable" because "tragically we know excess waits for emergency treatment lead to a needless loss of life, as sure as night follows day".

"The crisis on Scotland's A&E wards is not only never-ending, it's deepening - and still the Health Secretary is conspicuous by his silence," he added.

"Health boards are pleading with patients not to visit A&E unless it's essential because they are beyond breaking point.

"Overworked, under-resourced frontline staff are crying out for a coherent strategy from Humza Yousaf to tackle this, yet they are stuck with the same inadequate Covid Recovery Plan he issued months ago."

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