Weekly Scottish Emergency Department waiting times worst on record, amid serious concerns for patient safety

29 March 2022

The latest weekly update (w/e 20 March 2022) of Emergency Department activity and waiting time statistics show:

There were 25,506 attendances in week ending 20 March 2022
Four-hour performance was 66.2%, the lowest on record
8,610 patients were delayed by four hours or more, this is the highest on record and means one third of all patients were waiting for four hours or more in an Emergency Department
2,615 patients were delayed by eight hours or more, this is the highest on record and means more than one in 10 patients were waiting for eight hours or more in an Emergency Department
1,015 patients were delayed by 12 hours or more, this is the highest on record and means one in 25 patients were waiting for 12 hours or more in an Emergency Department

Dr John Thomson, Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said:

“Each week the Urgent and Emergency Care crisis worsens. Scotland’s Emergency Care system is failing patients who are coming to harm, and failing staff who are overworked, exhausted, and burned out but are left to cover the widespread shortcomings of the health system. Shortages of beds, shortages of staff, the social care crisis; existing staff do all they can to keep patients safe in these exceptionally challenging circumstances.

“It is an untenable and unsustainable situation. This week saw the highest number of long waits on record yet again. Data show that there is one excess death for every 82 patients delayed for more than six hours. This week 2,615 patients were delayed by eight hours or more, from this we can estimate that over 30 patients in this week alone could have come to associated harm or death as a result of their delay to admission.

“The significance of this appalling harm must not go unnoticed and must be met immediately with effective and meaningful action. The Scottish Government must understand the severity and extent of harm befalling our patients, and see that existing staff facing moral injury, going above and beyond, running on goodwill and adrenaline is not reasonable or acceptable. This can no longer be the sole answer to the biggest patient safety crisis in Emergency Care for a generation. This must not continue.”