3 March 2026
Emergency Departments (EDs) in Scotland are in dire need of attention by whoever forms the next government in May, as unwanted records for four, eight and 12-hour waits continue to be set.
That’s the key message from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) today (3 March 2026), following the publication of ED performance figures for January 2026.
Today’s data, published by Public Health Scotland, showed that January was the worst month since records began for waits of 12 or more hours in major (type-1) Scottish EDs.
A total of 10,047 patients, or one in 11 ED attendees, were subjected to waits of 12 or more hours from time of arrival until they were discharged, admitted or transferred elsewhere.
That’s the first time ever that the 12-hour wait figure in Scotland has breached 10,000 and is 22 times worse than January 2019, when the number of people attending A&E was actually higher.
Dr Fiona Hunter, RCEM Vice President for Scotland, said: “This grim milestone should be cause for profound concern among our health service, and government, leaders.
“But more importantly, behind this headline figure are individuals who have been let down at their time of greatest need by a crumbling system that has been neglected despite repeated cries for help.
“I, and my fellow members, see it every day on shift; we see patients lining our departments who have been there, scared and in pain, for hour after hour because the back door of the hospital is clogged and flow has broken down.
“With elections fast-approaching, it’s crucial that whoever forms the next government understands this: the A&E crisis is not caused by floods of barely-sick people rocking up to our departments, but by a lack of beds in inpatient wards, which is itself driven in no small part by an under resourced social care system.
“Just because the situation here is better than in other UK nations does not mean the status quo is acceptable, and we urge political parties to make tackling these issues major features in their manifestos. This problem must not be left to fester.”
The figures for January 2026 also showed:
- 12-hour waits for discharge, admission or transfer increased by 8% compared to January 2025, from 8,641 to 10,047
- The worst number of 8-hour waits, at 19,190, of any month in Scotland on record
- Fewer than two-thirds of patients (61.2%) waited less than four hours, which is the standard for A&E waits, the worst January on record for that metric
- On average, 1,973 beds each day in January 2026 were occupied by patients who were medically fit to leave – this is what is often known as a ‘delayed discharge’
- A total of 114,897 patients attended a major ED in January. This is 0.7% lower than January 2019, when only 439 patients waited 12 or more hours.
More data and analysis can be found here.