12 hour A&E waits 139 times worse than when the SNP came to power
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton has today called on the SNP to tear up its failing NHS Recovery Plan, following new analysis from the Scottish Liberal Democrats which shows that by October 2024 more people had already waited over 12 hours at A&E than in any previous year.
Analysis of monthly A&E waiting times data from Public Health Scotland showed that by October, 64,657 people had waited more than 12 hours at A&E in 2024, compared to 58,963 in the entirety of 2023, which is the worst full year on record.
This figure of 64,657 people waiting more than 12 hours at A&E in the first 10 months of 2024 is 139 times higher than the number (465) who waited more than 12 hours in the entirety of 2008, the SNP’s first full year in power.
This follows a report by the IFS which found that many measures of NHS performance (including A&E waiting times) are continuing to get worse, rather than recovering. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine also warned that Scotland's emergency departments are on a ‘fast track to chaos’ this winter.
Alex Cole-Hamilton said:
“It is now beyond clear that the SNP's NHS Recovery Plan has utterly failed. It was supposed to improve conditions for staff and patients in A&E, and across the NHS, but these figures show that after 3 years of this plan, conditions aren't just flatlining - they're getting worse.
“2023 was already the worst year on record in A&E, yet 2024 has already surpassed it with months left to spare. Compared to the early days of this SNP Government in 2008, 139 times more people are waiting over 12 hours at A&E.
“NHS staff have been raising the alarm about conditions for years, but this SNP Government has failed to give them the beds and safe staffing they need to do their job and keep people safe.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats would overhaul the SNP’s failed NHS Recovery Plan, bring forward measures to address burnout among staff and help people leave hospital on time with a care package through a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher."