SNP ministers have been accused of a 'litany of broken promises' on the NHS after rises in delayed discharges, cancelled operations, and worsening A&E waits in April. Amid a raft of 'atrocious' statistics, the government was blamed for letting Scots down with 'two decades of incompetence' on health.
Record A&E Delays
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said A&E units were 'as busy as ever', despite the end of winter, and called for 'concrete action' to fix chronic overcrowding. Public Health Scotland reported 44,797 patients (35.8 per cent) waited longer than the official four-hour target in A&E in April, the worst figure for that month on record. Eight-hour waits were also at a record high for April, and 12-hour waits the second worst.
A&E waits also deteriorated last week, with just 62.9 per cent of people treated, transferred, or discharged inside four hours, down from 64.4 per cent the week before.
Delayed Discharges and Cancelled Operations
The SNP promised in 2015 to eradicate delayed discharge by the end of that year. However, the average daily number of beds blocked by patients well enough to leave hospital—most because of community care shortages—was 1,902 in April, up from 1,854 a year ago. Additionally, 1,990 planned operations were cancelled on the day or day before treatment was due in April—8.1 per cent compared to 8 per cent a year earlier. Around a quarter of last-minute cancellations were due to capacity or 'non-clinical reasons'.
Political Reactions
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: 'These atrocious and worsening statistics expose one of the very worst of the SNP's litany of broken promises. The Nationalists pledged to eradicate delayed discharge more than a decade ago – but after two decades of incompetence, it's become the shocking norm for thousands of Scots. These agonising delays take a huge toll on physical and mental health, have a deadly domino effect on our NHS and cost hard-pressed taxpayers up to £440 million every year.'
Scottish Labour deputy Dame Jackie Baillie said: 'We've had enough empty promises – we need real action from John Swinney and the SNP to give Scotland an NHS it can rely on.'
RCEM Scotland vice president Dr Fiona Hunter said: 'We must see concrete action on A&E overcrowding. Angela Constance has an uphill battle ahead of her.'
Ms Constance said: 'I am committed to improving A&E performance and tackling delays for patients. We will be publishing a new national plan for improving the flow of patients through our hospitals within our first 100 days.'
