THE number of people waiting more than half a day to be seen in A&E rose again last week, however other measures rebounded slightly from record lows.

Public Health Scotland reported more than a third of patients waited longer than the official four-hour target, with 63.4 per cent of people seen on time in the week ending December 4.

This was up from 61.9% the previous week, which was the lowest figure since comparable records began in early 2015.

The Scottish Tories said the numbers remained "horrendous" and urged Nicola Sturgeon to sack health secretary Huma Yousaf.

The total number of patients waiting more than four hours last week fell from 9,532 to 9,314, and the number waiting more than eight hours fell from 3,363 to 3,048.

But the number waiting more than 12 hours rose for the third week in a row, from 1,226 to 1,276.

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 number of people attending last week rose from 24,996 to 25,450,

However the figures pre-date the current cold snap, which would typically lead to more people ending up in A&E because of trips, slips and falls. 

The worst performing health board last week was again NHS Forth Valley, where 44.7% patients were seen within four hours, up from 39.1% the previous week.

In NHS Lanarkshire it was 51.1% and in NHS Grampian it was 60.1%.

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.

Tory MSP Sandesh Gulhane said: “These horrendous statistics expose yet again that Humza Yousaf’s mismanagement has left our A&E departments unable to cope with patient demand.

“Excess waits lead inevitably, and tragically, to avoidable deaths.

"So it’s completely unacceptable that more than a third of patients consistently wait more than four hours, and utterly scandalous that the number waiting in excess of half a day has risen again. 

“The health secretary has lost the trust of overwhelmed frontline staff and suffering patients. They are paying a heavy price for his ever-growing list of failures and his ineffectual winter action plan.

“I have outlined a series of measures – including setting maximum waiting times and launching a waiting-times app to inform patients – which could be implemented now to ease the winter pressures on our NHS.

“In contrast, Humza Yousaf wrings his hands and just hopes things will somehow improve. Nicola Sturgeon must accept her Health Secretary is part of the problem, not the solution, and sack him now.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "We are only in the first week of what everyone agrees will be the hardest winter but staff are already overwhelmed.

"This is a major crisis but as the SNP descend into internecine fighting over whether to work with Alex Salmond [on independence], it's painfully clear to all that their focus is not where it needs to be.

"Scottish Liberal Democrat have called 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. Humza Yousaf has opposed or voted down every one.

“Patients and staff have been taken for granted for far too long. This situation cannot continue without a change in direction- more weeks of the Health Secretary rolling out the same tired excuses is not good enough. If Humza Yousaf can't do that then he will have to go.”