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Recent improvement but the NHS in Scotland still faces challenges achieving the A&E waiting times target
Performance against the four-hour accident and emergency (A&E) waiting times target has deteriorated since Audit Scotland previously reported on A&E departments. The number of patients who waited longer than four hours increased from around 36,000 in 2008/09 to around 104,000 in 2012/13, although performance improved during 2013.
The Audit Scotland report,
Accident and Emergency Performance Update, which is published today,
reports on the NHS in Scotland’s performance against the A&E
waiting times target and looks at why patients are waiting longer than the
four-hour target.
The report says:
• Although performance against the A&E waiting times target is not as
good as when last reported, it has improved in recent months. In December
2013, more patients were seen within four hours compared with the previous
December. However, performance against the A&E target
varies considerably between A&E departments and many face challenges
meeting the 95 per cent target.
• A&E departments are part of a complex health and social care system
and a lot of factors can lead to patients being delayed. These include
staffing pressures, and hospital beds not being available at the time when
A&E patients need to be admitted.
• The Scottish Government launched the National Unscheduled Care Action
Plan in February 2013. It is too early to comment on the impact of the
Action Plan, but the Scottish Government and NHS boards are taking steps
to address some of the causes of delays in A&E.
Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said:
“A&E departments provide a really important service in assessing and
treating patients with serious injury and illness. Maintaining good
performance in A&E was one of the Scottish Government’s key
objectives in 2013/14.
“Delays in A&E can be a sign of pressure across health and social
care. While there has been improvement in performance, such as the
progress made in tackling the longest waits in A&E, performance against
the target still remains lower than it was when we last reported.
“ It is important that the Scottish Government and NHS boards build on
their whole system work and continue to reduce delays for A&E
patients.”
Today’s report recommends that the Scottish Government shares good
practice on initiatives that can help improve performance and therefore
improve the experience for patients.
