Nicola Sturgeon ‘appalling’ shambles laid bare as ‘lives needlessly lost’ – fury at SNP

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Public Health Scotland statistics for the week ending July 24 revealed that of the 25,615 attendances at emergency departments, 1,064 patients faced a staggering wait of more than half a day. This is a jump from the 901 people recorded waiting for the same length of time in the previous week. It comes despite the Scottish Government’s target aim to ensure 95 percent of those at emergency departments are seen and subsequently discharged or admitted within four hours.

Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane said “years of dreadful workforce planning” would see the lives of patients “needlessly lost” due to excess waits and “over-stretched” front line workers.

He said: “These appalling figures prove that the crisis in Scotland’s emergency wards is not just continuing, but getting even worse on Humza Yousaf’s watch.

“As the SNP Health Secretary wrings his hands, patients’ lives continue to be needlessly lost due to excess waits, and the morale of dedicated but over-stretched frontline staff is further sapped by their inability to meet the huge demands placed upon them.

“Years of dreadful workforce planning by the SNP has left our NHS under-staffed across the board – and nowhere more so than in A&E.”

Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure over A&E waiting times (Image: PA)

Humza Yousaf is under fire over the recent figures (Image: GETTY )

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He said the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf’s “flimsy” Covid recovery plan was not “fit for purpose” and warned of a crisis in the winter months.

Mr Gulhane added: “It’s completely unacceptable that in high summer – when our emergency wards are traditionally quieter – a record proportion of people are having to wait more than four hours to be seen. I dread to think how bad things will be in winter.

“Patients and staff alike are suffering, and Humza Yousaf has to realise that his flimsy Covid Recovery Plan simply isn’t fit for purpose.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton took aim at Ms Sturgeon for focussing too much time on an “unwanted independence referendum and getting into spats with the UK Government”.

READ MORE: SNP MP blasts Truss after she slams Sturgeon in race to replace Boris

1,064 A&E patients faced a staggering wait of more than half a day (Image: GETTY)

Nicola Sturgeon was criticised for continuing her campaign for independence (Image: GETTY )

He added: “These kinds of extreme wait times puts lives at risk.

“If this target cannot be met in the middle of summer, just imagine the chaos once winter comes.

“Yet despite this deepening crisis, the SNP/Green Government would rather spend their days talking about an unwanted independence referendum and getting into spats with the UK Government, rather than taking action to reduce waiting times.

“Patients deserve to be seen for treatment quickly and close to home, and staff should not be simply left to make do in a state of perpetual crisis.”

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Nicola Sturgeon’s profile (Image: EXPRESS)

Nicola Sturgeon was warned of the winter crisis facing NHS Scotland (Image: GETTY )

Figures revealed just 65 percent of people – 8,955 – were attended to within this timeframe, which again saw a jump when compared to recent weeks, while some 2,798 patients waited for more than eight hours.

Monthly data for June also showed that of the 135,682 attendances at A&E services, just 71.3 percent were seen within the four-hour target – the worst on record for that measurement.

Some 10,945 people were not attended to for more than eight hours, while 3,937 waited longer than 12 hours.