“We remain extremely concerned about our patients and their safety and for the welfare of staff who are struggling”, RCEM says

7 March 2023

Responding to the latest monthly Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland for January 2023, Dr John-Paul Loughrey, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said:

“The monthly data make clear we are still in the depths of crisis. While it is true that the data for January 2023 show improvements when compared with December 2022, December was the worst month on record. We are relieved that we have mitigated against a repetition of December, but we remain extremely concerned about our patients and their safety, and for the welfare of staff who are struggling. January saw continued high numbers of extremely long waits; the third highest number of 12-hour waits on record. While the weekly data from February also show that we cannot let up in our requirement for substantial improvement.

“As the Scottish leadership election begins, tackling the crisis in Emergency Care as well as the crisis in the wider health and social care system must be a priority for the next First Minister. In 2022, a total of 55,095 patients waited 12-hours or more in an Emergency Department in Scotland. Analysis by the College shows that consequently, in 2022, there were an estimated 765 patient deaths associated with these dangerously long waiting times – equal to an estimated average of 64 each month. This is entirely unacceptable and a marker of a system that is not functioning as it should.

“To tackle this, in Scotland we urgently need a restoration of the acute bed base, that means opening an additional 1,000 staffed acute beds where safely possible. There are also significant shortfalls of staff in Scotland. The Emergency Medicine workforce needs at least 100 more consultants, as well as senior decision makers, ACPs/ANPs/Physician Associates, junior doctors, and vital nurses. We welcomed the expansion of Emergency Medicine medical training places in Scotland by 10, but this expansion is considerably short of what is required and there has yet to be any commitment to maintain this each year.

“This winter continues to be the most challenging yet for the NHS in Scotland. A failure for meaningful action now will prolong the risk to patient safety and maintain these dangerously long waiting times at the detriment to staff who are already burned out and exhausted. 2023 must be the year that we see political will translated into action that improves patient care and conditions for staff.”

Notes to editor

The latest monthly Emergency Department performance figures for Scotland for January 2023 show:

• There were 97,659 attendances at major Emergency Departments
• 65.2% of patients were seen within four-hours at major Emergency Departments
  • This is the third lowest four-hour performance since records began
  • This is an increase of 7.1 from the previous month, and a decrease of 8.5 compared with January 2022.
  • 33,963 patients waited over four-hours in major Emergency Departments
• 13,055 (13.4%) patients waited more than eight-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
  • This is the fourth highest number of eight-hour waits since records began
  • This is a decrease of 29.1% from the previous month, and over twice as many in January 2022 (6,477)
  • This is equal to more than one in seven patients waiting eight-hours or more in a major Emergency Department
• 6,318 (6.5%) patients waited more than 12-hours before being seen, admitted, discharged, or transferred
  • This is the third highest number of 12-hour waits since records began
  • It means that more than one in 15 patients were waiting 12-hour or more in a major Emergency Department
  • This figure has fallen by 23.5% from the previous month, and increase of 184.7% compared with January 2022.

The latest weekly Emergency Department activity and waiting time statistics for week commencing 20 February 2023:

• There were 24,279 attendances at Emergency Departments in Scotland
• 64.5% of attendances were seen within four-hours at an Emergency Department
• 2,983 patients waited eight-hours or more in an Emergency Department
• 1,275 patients waited 12-hours or more in an Emergency Department