Thousands of Scots waiting more than an hour for NHS triage 

The longest wait recorded between January and June was in NHS Highlands where someone waited 1,376 minutes - that is a 23-hour-wait to be assessed. Other long waits for triage include 13 hours in NHS Fife and NHS Greater Glasgow. 

In NHS Lothian hospitals, 20, 157 Scots were left waiting over an hour, and 17,896 in Greater Glasgow.  

READ MORE: 

John Swinney: 'We need to create conditions for people to thrive'

Government funding may force charity to make staff redundant

National Care Service: It was never going to be 'new NHS'

NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Western Isles did not provide any data on request. 

Triage is the assessment of patients or casualties in order to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.

Commenting on the figures, Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson has urged the Scottish Government to bring down the waits for this care. 

Jackie Baillie MSP said: “For patients with painful or deteriorating conditions, every minute left anxiously waiting can feel like hours. 

“This SNP government must reduce triage times so those with serious conditions can be seen quickly.

“The UK Labour Budget has delivered a record settlement for Scotland including £789million of health-related funding this year and an additional £1.72billion for health and social care next year, but it’s up to this SNP government to spend it wisely.

“Scottish Labour will invest in frontline services to reduce NHS waiting times and ensure patients get the treatment they need.”

The Vice Chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in Scotland said these figures around triage waiting times are concerning and “significant investment” across Scotland’s health service is urgently needed.

Dr Fiona Hunter said:  “Obviously for people who are gravely ill or are in a life-threatening situation initial triage will, in most cases, have been started by paramedics before they get to the hospital, with the Emergency Department put on alert to await the patient's arrival for an immediate further assessment.

“For less urgent cases RCEM’s guidance is that patients should be assessed within quarter of an hour. They will then be prioritised in order of clinical need.  

“The figures obtained via this FOI are concerning. During an extended wait for assessment it is possible that people’s conditions may deteriorate; they can be left in pain or feeling unwell; and in some cases those who need medical attention can become frustrated and leave, potentially leading to more serious issues later. 

“Long waits for triage are yet another indicator of a system which is not functioning as it should. Significant investment across the health service in Scotland, including for Urgent and Emergency care, is desperately needed to ensure patients get the standard of care they deserve and that our members want to provide.”

The latest figures from Public Health Scotland showed 1,184 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E in the week ending November 10, compared to 1,429 the week before. 

The performance against the four-hour target for emergency departments remained unchanged at 64%. The standard is for 95% of patients to be seen and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours, but performance has been below 80% since July 2021.

The Health Secretary said while performance is not where the Scottish Government wanted it to be, it remains the best in the UK.

Responding to the triage waits, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Figures show more than 524,000 people across 12 boards were seen in under an hour. Whilst the Scottish Government does not want anyone to wait longer for emergency triage than they should, we are working closely with NHS Boards to reduce wait times.

"Scotland’s core A&E departments have been the best performing in the UK for the last eight years and this year’s Budget provides more than £19.5 billion for health and social care and an extra £500 million for frontline boards.”