‘Now is the time to plan and prepare for winter’ RCEM says, as A&E performance improves across Scotland

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has responded to June 2023’s Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland.

The data show:

• In June 2023, there were 116,244 attendances at major (Type 1) Emergency Departments across Scotland.
• 69% of patients were seen within four-hours at major Emergency Departments.
  • This is an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the previous month.
• 36,015 patients waited over four-hours in major Emergency Departments, this is a decrease of 7.7% from the previous month and an 3.8% decrease from June 2022.
  • It is encouraging to see performance improving but it is still well below the target to see 95% of patients in four-hours or less. This is the second worst June on record. The number waiting more than four hours was an increase of 296% compared with June 2021.
• 9,489 (8.2%) patients waited eight-hours or more in an Emergency Department
  • This is a decrease of 16.5% from the previous month, and a 0.9% decrease compared with June 2022.
• 2,991 (2.6%) patients waited more than 12-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
  • This figure has decreased by 24.2% from the previous month, and an increase of 30.6% compared with June 2022.

Responding, RCEM Scotland Vice President Dr John-Paul Loughrey, said:

“A&E performance in Scotland is slowly trending in the right direction. Our members continue to work hard to reduce delays, mitigate dangerous overcrowding and improve patient care and these figures are in no small part thanks to them.

“To capitalise on these improvements, we hope to have continued engagement with the Health Secretary and support from Scottish Government. Now is the time to plan and prepare for winter and provide adequate resources and beds as well as measures to retain staff.

“Our #ResuscitateEmergencyCare campaign lays out the necessary steps we need to take to ensure the health service is equipped to deliver effective, high-quality care and prevent another catastrophic winter.”