The Scottish Government has been accused of playing “Russian Roulette” with the lives of A&E patients as waits rocket.
Paisley’s A&E department notched up the fifth worst performance in Scotland this week, as dismal new figures were unveiled.
Only 44.4 per cent of patients attending the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s emergency unit were treated in line with four-hour targets, in the week ending January 5th.
It means the hospital, which often performs poorly against national wait time figures, featured amongst the longest A&E waits in the country.
Only Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, also operated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire’s Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, had longer wait times.
A total of 573 patients passed through the RAH’s A&E department in the week until January 5th – fewer than the other sites experiencing similarly poor performance.
Four-hour targets have rarely been met since the Covid pandemic and performance has continued to slump in recent months, despite the Scottish Government’s pledges as part of the Covid Recovery Plan.
Data also reveals that ambulances were delayed for longer outside Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, in the week until January 6th.
Figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service show that the turnaround time for 90 per cent of crews spending at hospital with a patient was two hours and 24 minutes at the Royal Alexandra.
Northern Ireland’s ambulance chief became the latest clinician to warn of the toll taken on patients by hospital delays.
Dr Nigel Ruddell, the Medical Director for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, warned this week that delays in getting patients into emergency departments is leading to an increase in deaths.
Commenting on the latest data, MSP Jackie Baillie said: “These spiralling waits show that the SNP has lost control of our NHS.
“With nearly one in five Scots waiting more than eight hours to be treated and nearly one in ten waiting more than 12, A&E is starting to resemble Russian roulette.
“The A&E unit which serves my own constituents, at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, is amongst the worst performers, despite the efforts of hard-working staff.
“It must be soul destroying for NHS workers to turn up at work day in, day out, unable to offer the standard of care they want to deliver.
“The SNP Scottish Government has been told repeatedly about the state of Scotland’s NHS but the warnings appear to be falling on deaf ears.
“The Scottish Government either cannot, or will not, come up with a new plan, despite the evident failure of their Covid Recovery blueprint.
“The UK Labour government delivered a record Budget settlement but it’s essential the SNP spends the money on improving frontline services rather than frittering it away doing more of the same.”
