Weekly A&E Performance Stable

Waiting times in Scotland's accident and emergency departments remain just short of a Government target.

The latest figures show 94.6% of people were treated within four hours at A&E sites during the week ending July 5.

The performance is down slightly from 94.7% the previous week, and does not meet the Scottish Government's interim target of 95%.

But the figures do show an improvement of almost nine percentage points since weekly reporting began in February.

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt said: As we have seen in recent weeks, A&E performance is stabilising, with weekly figures getting closer to meeting our world leading targets.

"Today's figures show that 13 out of 14 health boards treated nine out of 10 patients within four hours during the week ending July 5. Long waits have also continued to remain low.

"Of course, there is still much work to do and it's important that with support from the Scottish Government, health boards retain momentum throughout the summer months to ensure they are in the best position possible heading into next winter.''

Hospitals dealt with 25,514 cases at A&E departments over the week, up from 24,785 in the week ending June 28.

According to the figures, 114 (0.4%) of patients waited more than eight hours before they were admitted and treated and then transferred or discharged.

The Scottish Government has set an interim goal of treating 95% of people in four hours in advance of meeting the full target of 98%.

Ms Watt said: "We have put record funding and staffing in place and are committed to lowering waiting times in A&E through a whole system approach.

"This includes measures to reduce delays in people being discharged from hospital, including through the integration of health and social care. That means we have the strong foundations in place to ensure our NHS continues to deliver, quick, high quality care for the people of Scotland.''

Four health boards did not meet the 95% target - NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Forth Valley, Lothian, and Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

NHS Forth Valley reported the lowest figure of 87.9%.

Waiting times at the new South Glasgow University Hospital, officially opened by the Queen on July 3, improved significantly from 88.6% to 94% of patients treated within four hours.

The Scottish Government previously sent in a specialist support team to the £842 million facility in a bid to improve its performance.

Ms Watt said the improved performance at the new hospital is "encouraging and testament to the hard-working staff''.

The minister said: "The Scottish Government is committed to supporting health boards drive down waits in A&E and following the transition to the hospital, an expert support team was put in place for two weeks.

"The team worked with the hospital staff who had come together from the three separate hospitals and helped embed new systems and processes.

"We have worked very closely with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde throughout the migration to the new £842 million hospital, which is one of the largest in Europe.''