WIREDGOV

During the month of December 94.9 per cent of patients were seen and subsequently admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours from Scotland’s A&E departments.

This is five percentage points higher than December 2014 and the best performance during the month of December since 2009.

Also published today are performance figures for the week ending January 24, when 93.8 per cent of patients attending core A&E departments, which are 24 hour, consultant led sites, were seen within four hours, up from 91.5 per cent the week before. This is 6.6 percentage points better than the performance during the same week last year.

Core A&E performance for the month of December was 94.5 per cent.

Health Secretary Shona Robison welcomed the figures ahead of a visit to the Rapid Access Frailty Clinic at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert. GPs can directly refer frail, elderly patients to this service and the emergency department can also make arrangements for patients to be seen there where appropriate.

Ms Robison said:

“We know that the winter months bring additional demands across the whole health and social care services. We have seen that demonstrated over recent weeks, but, thanks to the dedication of NHS and social care staff, we have also seen a consistent improvement on last year.

“Today’s figures continue that trend, and December’s A&E performance is the best since 2009.

“We have worked closely with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to embed improvements and it is encouraging that the college themselves feel all aspects of emergency care are better than last year.

“Performance at core A&E sites during the week ending January 24 is also up more than two percentage points on the previous week, with every health board seeing at least nine out of 10 patients within four hours.

“However, there is no doubt that A&E performance will continue to fluctuate, not only from week to week, but also from hospital to hospital, particularly at this time of year. There is still clearly more work to be done to build on and retain performance across the whole country.

“That is why we are working with boards to help ease pressure across the system and cut waiting times further. We have invested some £10.7 million to help cope with extra winter demand and we have been providing expert support for boards where required.”