NHS Forth Valley has disclosed that almost 3,000 patients waited longer than the four-hour target at its Emergency Department (ED) and Minor Injuries Unit in April 2026, according to figures presented at the health board's meeting on Tuesday.
A total of 2,808 patients fell into this category. Overall compliance with the four-hour emergency access standard (EAS) for unscheduled care stood at 61.3 per cent, with the Minor Injuries Unit achieving 99.2 per cent and the Emergency Department only 49.7 per cent.
Long Waits and Assessment Delays
Further breakdowns revealed 1,281 waits longer than eight hours, 524 waits longer than 12 hours, and 35 waits exceeding 23 hours. The primary cause for delays beyond four hours remained waiting for the first assessment, affecting 1,692 patients, up from 1,423 in April 2025.
Wait for a bed accounted for 622 patients waiting beyond four hours, while clinical reasons caused 175 breaches.
Attendance and Delayed Discharges
In April 2026, there were 527 new attendances to the Rapid Assessment and Care Unit (RACU), 108 of which came via ED. Notably, 829 patients who attended ED did not wait, compared to 678 in April 2025. The census position for standard delays (excluding Code 9 and guardianship) was 47 delays, a significant drop from 96 in April 2025.
There were 45 code 9 and guardianship delays, bringing the total delayed discharges to 92. Bed days occupied by delayed discharges (excluding code 9 and 100) fell to 1,010 in April 2026, down from 4,018 in April 2025.
Outpatient and Inpatient Waiting Lists
At the end of April, the waiting list for a first outpatient appointment reached 18,653 (18,517 excluding mutual aid), compared to 14,104 in April 2025. The number waiting beyond 12 weeks was 7,072 (7,020 excluding mutual aid), up from 3,511 in April 2025.
Inpatient/daycase waiting numbers were 7,518 (7,257 excluding mutual aid and National Treatment Centre), versus 6,851 in April 2025. Those waiting beyond 12 weeks increased from 4,329 to 4,763.
Diagnostics and Cancer Targets
At the end of April, 693 patients were waiting beyond the six-week standard for imaging, and 50 patients waited beyond six weeks for endoscopy. For cancer targets in March 2026, 76.4 per cent of patients waited less than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first treatment, improving from 67.9 per cent in March 2025. The 31-day target was 99.1 per cent.
However, for the October to December 2025 quarter, only 70.3 per cent of patients were treated within 62 days of referral, a decrease from 85.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
