Forth Valley once again the worst performing A&E in Scotland
Less than half of those who attended A&E at NHS Forth Valley last week were seen within four hours
NHS Forth Valley has once again recorded the worst performance of any health board when it comes to A&E waiting times.
That's as the number of patients in Scotland waiting more than four hours to be seen in A&E has reached its highest ever number for a single week
Just 41.7% of people were seen in that timeframe in Forth Valley, which is just under 7% down on last week for the region.
9,146 people across the country waited longer than the four hour target to be seen, and then either admitted, transferred or discharged in the week up to August 14, according to Public Health Scotland data.
The previous highest number was 9,143 in the week ending July 3.
The Scottish Government's target sets out that A&E departments should aim to see a minimum of 95% of people within a four-hour timeframe.
However, in the latest figures that goal was not met for more than a third of patients.
The four-hour waiting time target has not been met since July 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is no sign of an end" or "significant improvement" in the performances according to the Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Sandesh Gulhane.
He said:
"The numbers backed up in A&E are not just miles from the nationalists' own targets but indicate a service that is unfit for purpose. These latest figures show more people waiting for longer than four hours than ever before.
"Humza Yousaf's flimsy NHS Recovery Plan needs to be completely rethought. Its complete failure is letting down dedicated staff who are now at the end of their tether, endangering patients, and creating unnecessary suffering."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The pandemic has presented our NHS with the greatest challenge of its 74-year existence.
"Despite this, Scotland continues to have the best performing A&Es in the UK, outperforming those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for seven years.
"Occupancy and staffing pressures remain high and continue to impact the delivery of emergency services.
"Covid has not gone away but, despite this, almost two-thirds of patients are being seen within four hours of arrival.
"We are investing £50 million to drive down waiting times through our Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative programme, including further development of Flow Navigation Centres in every board which aim to ensure rapid access to a clinician and scheduled appointments, where possible.
"This will avoid people waiting in A&E waiting rooms unnecessarily. We are engaging with boards on an ongoing basis to support them to avoid delays."
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the Scottish Government's NHS recovery plan was "half baked".
He added: "These waits will put lives at risk, we are teetering on the precipice of a disaster in our NHS. We need the Health Secretary to be focused on this crisis day in day out to prevent this looming winter of chaos for our NHS. "
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokespersons said Health Secretary Humza Yousaf was "presiding over the longest running crisis in our NHS in living memory".