Ministers warned after fall in A&E waiting-times figures
New figures showing a fall in patients seen on time at A&E should act as a "wake-up call" for ministers as winter approaches, opposition parties have said.
New figures showing a fall in patients seen on time at A&E should act as a "wake-up call" for ministers as winter approaches, opposition parties have said.
Statistics for the week ending October 9 show 92.6% of all patients were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours - below the Scottish Government's interim target of 95%.
They show 130 people spent more than eight hours in an emergency department while 22 spent more than 12 hours.
Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said the weekly figures were the worst since March while Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar said the missed targets indicated staff were under pressure.
Data for Glasgow's flagship Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) show only 84.9% of patients were seen within the four-hour target time.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: "These are the worst weekly A&E performance statistics that we have seen since March 27.
"Winter is coming and pressure on doctors and nurses working on the frontline of our NHS is only going to get worse.
"The flagship QEUH in Glasgow is still clearly facing big challenges in delivering sustained improvement against waiting-time targets despite specialist support. Other sites are struggling to meet targets too.
"SNP ministers cannot afford to simply cross their fingers and hope for the best. Doctors, nurses and patients need extra support now."
Mr Sarwar said: "The SNP should take these missed A&E targets as a wake-up call before winter, which always increases pressure on our A&E wards.
"Already, one in four GP practices are under-staffed and our hospitals are facing increasing pressure under the SNP government - with nine out of 10 nurses saying their workload is getting worse."
Public health minister Aileen Campbell said: "Week-to-week A&E performance will fluctuate and we are monitoring this closely to ensure no-one is waiting longer than absolutely necessary in our emergency departments.
"The last few weeks have been very busy for our hospitals, with A&E attendances significantly above last year.
"However, our emergency departments are still maintaining a high level of performance, with Scotland's A&E waiting times consistently outperforming other areas of the UK.
"In fact, we have had better performance than England, at our core emergency sites, for the last 18 consecutive months.
"We want to retain and build on this performance and have put record investment and increased levels of staffing into our hospitals to achieve this.
"We will also be working with particular boards and hospitals that are experiencing challenges to understand why performance has dipped and look at where improvements can be made."