WAITING time performances in Scotland’s A&E units have slumped to a three-month low, with more than a third of patients waiting too long for treatment last week.

Figures from Public Health Scotland showed only 66.5% of patients were seen within the statutory four-hour target in the seven days ending August 6.

It was the lowest proportion since the week ending May 14, when it was 64.3%.

The percentage was down from 69% in the week to July 30 and 71.8% the week before that.

Opposition parties called it “utterly appalling” and a sign of “shambolic mismanagement” and demanded SNP health secretary Michael Matheson get a grip of the crisis.

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The target is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. It has not been met nationally for three years, since July 2020.

The latest data shows the number of patients waiting more than four hours rose from 7,927 to 8,426, the highest figure since the week to June 25.

The number waiting more than eight hours jumped from 1,900 to 2,482, and from 563 to 857 for those waiting more than 12 hours, the worst figures for both since May 14.

The declines in performance were in spite of the overall number of people presenting at A&E falling, down from 25,531 to 25,123.

The worst performing health board last week was NHS Forth Valley, with just 50.2% of patients were seen on time, followed by NHS Lanarkshire (59.3%) and NHS Grampian (61.9%).

Public Health Scotland’s data also gave performance figures for all A&E sites during the month of June.

During this month, performance against the four-hour standard was at 72.6%, up from 70.8% in May, with a total of 137,183 unplanned attendances in A&E.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has calculated there will be an excess death for every 1 in 72 patients who spend between eight and 12 hours in an A&E. 

Scottish Tory health spokesman Sandesh Gulhane said: “It is utterly appalling that a third of patients are now routinely waiting over four hours to be seen in Scotland’s A&E departments.

“They are a damning reflection of the SNP’s shambolic mismanagement of our NHS and even at the height of the summer period, waiting times are worsening.

“Despite the best efforts of my dedicated colleagues on the frontline, patients are still facing intolerable delays at A&E. Thousands are waiting over eight hours to be seen, while hundreds are suffering scandalous waits of half a day or more.

“These excess delays lead to tragic loss of life, with the number of deaths as a result of lengthier waits soaring in recent years.

“If the SNP cannot get a grip of this NHS crisis in the summer, then staff and patients are facing another terrifying winter.

“Michael Matheson must finally ditch Humza Yousaf’s flimsy NHS recovery plan and instead follow the Scottish Conservatives vision for a modern, efficient and local health service to get A&E targets back on track and I’ll be continuing to hold SNP ministers fully to account on their failures.”

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Scottish Labour deputy Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Chaos has been engulfing our NHS for months now, and lives are on the line.

“We know that longer waits at A&E lead to worse and more dangerous outcomes for patients but waiting times have been consistently below the Scottish Government’s own standards for years.

“When he took over from the First Minister, Michael Matheson promised to get a handle on this crisis yet he seems content with the status quo while patients and staff have seen absolutely no progress.

“The SNP need to put the needs of patients and staff within our NHS first and focus on tackling delayed discharge to end this crisis once and for all.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "It has been over three years since the Scottish Government last met its target for 95% of attendees to be seen within four hours.

"There is no shortage of goodwill and dedication on the part of NHS staff, but they don’t have the beds, safe staffing and resources they need.

"As health secretary Humza Yousaf comprehensively failed to get to grips with the crisis in our A&E departments.

"His successor Michael Matheson must start taking this crisis seriously by dropping his government's opposition to our constructive proposals such as an urgent inquiry into the hundreds of avoidable deaths linked to the emergency care crisis, a staff burnout prevention strategy and a health and social care staff assembly."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are determined to see improvement in emergency department performance and continue to work closely with the health boards facing the greatest challenges in A&E to drive down waiting times and improve services for patients and staff.

“Performance is still not where it needs to be and there is continued disparity in performance both between health boards and individual sites.

“Hospital bed occupancy continues to be a major factor impacting on performance, which is why we are working to reduced instances of delayed discharge and are continuing to expand our Hospital at Home capacity.”