Saturday 15 February 2025
RCEM analysis of the latest Scottish ED performance data reveals that the number of people experiencing stays of longer than 12hrs in Scotland’s Emergency Departments in 2024 was a staggering 99 times higher than 2011 when records began.
Last year in major EDs, 76,346 people endured waits of more than 12 hours – this includes those who went on to be admitted as well as those who did not.
That’s one in every 18 patients who entered through the doors of an A&E in 2024.
The figures, published this month by Public Health Scotland for December 2024, also reveal it was the second worst December since records began in 2011 for patients experiencing four, eight, and 12-hour wait times.
The high proportion of people waiting extreme amounts of time in EDs can be due to the lack of in-patient beds and an inability to discharge people well enough to go home – often because of the lack of social care support.
So called ‘delayed discharges’ meant that in December, there were 61,706 days spent in hospital by people who did not medically need to be there – a 6% increase compared to the same month in 2023.
The data comes as the Scottish government recently announced that its scrapped its flagship plan to create a National Care Service that would have seen the responsibility for social care transferred from councils to a new national body.
RCEM’s Vice President for Scotland Dr John-Paul Loughrey said: “When you look at the data over the past 14 years the reality of the number of people now facing extreme long waits in this country is shockingly clear.
“The figure from 2011 shows just few hundred people waited 12 hours or longer. But astonishingly last year, this figure was well over 75,000.
“It is unacceptable, and it is dangerous – and many of those patients will be stuck on trolleys receiving so called ‘corridor care’ – because we just don’t have enough in-patient beds.
“And for those who keep saying Scotland’s performance is the best in the UK – that may well be true – but is being the ‘least worst’ is not something to be lauding?
“We cannot go on like this. Focusing on reducing elective waits is clearly important, but it cannot be the only area. Lives are being put at risk by these long waits and ending them must be a political priority.”
Last month, First Minister John Swinney announced a range of measures to drive down waiting times and reduce pressure on frontline services. They include:
And for A&E departments, the First Minister said frailty teams will be placed at the front door of every ED by summer to redirect elderly people away from waiting rooms, to receive care elsewhere in hospital or at home.
RCEM’s analysis is based on the original official A&E monthly attendance and waiting times data as published at the time by Public Health Scotland.
