Mixed picture continues in our region as Scottish A&E waiting times improve

09/11/21. Undated file photo of a sign for an Accident and Emergency department. Issue date: Tuesday November 2, 2021. PA Images.
There is a mixed picture when it comes to A&E waiting times in our region. Credit: PA Images

The picture is mixed for our region's Scottish health boards as A&E waiting times across the nation improved slightly on the previous week's record-bad performance, according to the the latest NHS Scotland figures.

Nationally - with 28.6 per cent of patients waiting longer than the four-hour target time to be seen during the last week of October - it is still the fifth-worst performance on record.

For NHS Borders, there was an improvement in performance when it came to A&E performance; of the 505 patients seen by emergency medics, 76.2 per cent were seen within the target time of four hours. In the previous week, of the 575 patients seeking emergency treatment and 71.7 per cent were seen in the target time.

At NHS Dumfries and Galloway, 834 patients sought A&E treatment and 80 per cent were seen in the target time. That was a slight drop from the previous week when it dealt with 759 patients seeking emergency treatment and saw 81.8 per cent in four hours.

Across Scotland, of the 6,896 patients who were not admitted, transferred or discharged from an accident emergency department within four hours, 1,592 waited longer than eight hours and 483 people had waits of more than 12 hours.

The 71.4 per cent of patients seen within the Scottish Government's target time is the highest since the week ending September 26 and up from the previous week's 69.6 per cent.

NHS Forth Valley was the worst-performing health board, with almost half (48.9 per cent ) of patients not seen within four hours.

It is followed by NHS Lothian, with 35.2 per cent of patients waiting beyond the target time, NHS Lanarkshire (30.4 per cent) and NHS Fife (30 per cent).

Only NHS Western Isles (97.7 per cent) met the Government's target of 95 per cent of patients being seen within four hours - a target not met across the country since July 2020.

The latest figures published by Public Health Scotland also show there were 24,131 attendances during the week, the second-lowest since the first week of May.

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