Newest Scots hospital misses waiting time target

WAITING times in accident and emergency (A&E) at Scotland’s newest hospital have improved but still fall well below a key target.

Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital was the worst performing A&E department. Picture: Emma Mitchell

The £842 million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow was the worst performing A&E department in the week ending October 11, with 82.9 per cent of patients dealt with in four hours.

The figure is up from a record low of 77.2 per cent the week before, but falls short of the Scottish Government’s interim target for 95 per cent of people to be seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within that time.

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Jim Hume challenged the government to "get a grip". Picture: Stuart Cobley

A total of 20 patients waited for more than eight hours in the hospital’s A&E.

Across Scotland, performance against the target was 93.5 per cent, down slightly from 94 per cent the week before.

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In total, 155 people waited for more than eight hours while 23 patients spent more than 12 hours in an emergency department.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Jim Hume called on the Scottish Government to “get a grip” on A&E performance before winter.

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Mr Hume said: “It is worrying that this key A&E target continues to be missed, despite repeated assurances and announcements from the Scottish Government and the best efforts of hard-working NHS staff.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison highlighted funding of £10.7 million for health boards during winter, as well as £100 million to tackle delayed discharge.

She said: “Figures published today are three percentage points higher than the same week last year, but there is still more to be done to improve and maintain performance as we head towards winter.

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“We are continuing to work closely with health boards as they prepare for winter. This includes issuing winter guidance to health boards almost two months earlier than last year, to ensure they build in optimum levels of resilience capacity in preparation for winter.

“We want to see long-term, sustainable change put in place in order to maintain the improvement in performance on last year, both during peaks and troughs of demand and working towards achieving what are rightly demanding targets.”