WAITING time performance across Scotland’s A&E departments has fallen to a new record low, with almost two in five patients waiting too long to be treated last week

Public Health Scotland reported just 61.2 per cent of people attending an emergency unit in the week to November 27 were seen within the official four-hour target.

This was down from 63.1% the previous week, and was in spite of fewer people seeking help in casualty.

It was the lowest percentage seen since comparable records began in early 2015.

In one health board, NHS Forth Valley, less than 40% of patients were seen on time.

The number of patients enduring extreme waits of more than eight and 12 hours also rose.

Opposotion parties said SNP health secretary Humza Yousaf had "totally lost control" of the crisis and must go.

PHS also released figures showing the overall performance in October was the worst month on record, with just 67.6% of patients seen within four hours, down from 69% in September.

The official A&E target, which has not been met nationally since July 2020, is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

The figure has been below 70% in Scotland since the week ending May 22

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned long delays are harming or killing more than 30 patients a week. 

A key factor is a lack of social care places leading to the delayed discharge of patients medically fit enough to leave hospital.

This creates an overall shortage of beds, making it harder to advance patients through A&E.

Last week, the number of people going to A&E fell from 25,467 to  24,995.

However the number of patients waiting more than four hours rose from 9,390 to 9,532.

The number waiting more than eight hours fell from 3,013 to 3,363 and 12-hour waiters rose from 1,062 to 1,226.

The worst performing health board last week - as it has been for some time - was NHS Forth Valley, where 39.1% of A&E patients were seen within four hours.

In NHS Lanarkshire it was 54.1% and in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde it was 56.9%.

More PHS figures today showed the number of medically fit people stuck in hospital but unable to leave was at a record high, with a lack of social care places a key factor.

The average number of beds occupied per day in October due to delayed discharges was 1,898, the highest since current guidance came into force in July 2016, and 4% up on September.

In total, there were 58,826 days spent in hospital last month by delayed discharge patients, up 17% on October 2021.

Mr Yousaf was already facing calls to resign over the poor A&E performance - with worse expected as winter sets in.

However Nicola Sturgfeon has refused to sack him, accusing his critics of political games.

Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "Humza Yousaf has totally lost control of this winter crisis, but the SNP and their Green allies are distracted by their hair brained schemes for breaking up the UK. 

"We are only in the first week of what everyone agrees will be the hardest winter but staff are already overwhelmed.

“Despite every single red light flashing on the dashboard, Humza Yousaf has opposed and voted down Scottish Liberal Democrat calls for a burnout prevention strategy, a staff assembly that puts their expertise to good use and an urgent inquiry into the avoidable deaths linked to the crisis in emergency care.

“The Health Secretary must fundamentally change his approach and get control of this crisis, otherwise he will need to go because patients and staff have been taken for granted for far too long.”

Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “Nicola Sturgeon cannot continue to stand idly by week after week as Scotland’s A&E wards plumb new depths under her hopeless health secretary.

“Sacking Humza Yousaf won’t solve things over night but it’s clear he’s part of the problem, not the solution. His flimsy recovery plan isn’t working and he’s lost the trust of shattered patients and staff.

“The tragic reality – which we must never forget or accept – is that these latest worst-ever figures translate to even more needless deaths on Scotland’s emergency wards.

“The local stats are even more alarming. At the flagship hospitals in Scotland’s two largest cities, and at crisis-ridden Forth Valley, it’s scarcely believable that little more than a third of patients are being seen within four hours.

“It’s clear the system is broken and dedicated staff and worried patients are paying a heavy price for SNP mismanagement of our A&E departments.

“Instead of coming up with a coherent plan to tackle the crisis, all Humza Yousaf can do is spin dodgy data to protect himself and this SNP Government.

“Enough is enough. We can’t go on like this. Nicola Sturgeon must act without further delay and sack Humza Yousaf now.”

Scottish Labour deputy Jackie Baillie added: “These grim new records show an NHS crisis that is getting worse instead of better, despite the tireless efforts of fantastic NHS staff.

“Thousands of people have been left stranded in A&E for more than 12 hours and spiralling rates of delayed discharge will make this bad picture even worse.

“Staff and patients alike are being failed by Humza Yousaf and by the SNP government, who are sitting on their hands while our NHS collapses.

“This record-breaking health secretary needs to go before winter hits and this crisis gets even more deadly.”

Responding to the figures, the Health Secretary said: “A number of factors are driving up A&E waits including the level of delayed discharge which is why we are working with health boards to ensure people leave hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.

“We will continue to see fluctuations in figures over winter, despite this, I am clear that A&E performance is not where it needs to be.

“Our network of Flow Navigation Centres, in place all across the country, are a key asset in relieving pressure on A&E – directing people towards the most appropriate urgent care and offering rapid access to a clinician and scheduled in-person, phone or video appointments, where appropriate, to avoid unnecessary long waits.

“More than 23,000 patients have avoided an unnecessary trip to a physical A&E through NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s virtual service alone.”