A third of patients waited longer than the Scottish Government’s target time for help in accident and emergency departments – with four hospitals in Scotland treating fewer than half of patients inside four hours.
New figures for the week ending September 24 showed of the 25,890 patients who attended A&E, 66.3% were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours
Performance was down slightly from the 67.4% achieved the previous week, and continues to be well below the target of having 95% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.
The figures, published by Public Health Scotland, showed staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow dealt with 47.4% of patients within this target time.
Three other hospitals also treated less than half of patients inside four hours, with the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh treating 47.5% within this time, while staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital treating 47.6% and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary achieving 48.7%.
Across Scotland 8,733 patients were in A&E for longer than the four-hour target time in the week ending September 24.
This includes 2,791 patients who were there for eight hours or more, and 968 who were in accident and emergency for a minimum of 12 hours.
Separate data covering the month of August showed 71.3% of patients dealt with inside of fours hours.
This was down from 72.7% achieved in July, with Public Health Scotland’s report also noting that performance has been “below 80% since summer 2021”.
The four-hour target was missed for 39,101 patients in August, with this including 11,149 patients who spent more than eight hours in A&E, while 3,960 were there for 12 hours or more.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane MSP said: “The shocking norm on the SNP’s watch now is a third of patients waiting over four hours to be seen in our A&E departments.
“Every single week, thousands are waiting over eight hours to be seen and hundreds are spending half a day languishing in A&E.
“It is completely unacceptable that in the month of August alone, almost 4,000 patients waited over 12 hours to be treated.”
The Tory added: “If Michael Matheson wants to get a grip on this crisis in A&E, he should start by matching the Scottish Conservatives plans for a modern, efficient and local health service.”
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “The Scottish Government is determined to see sustained improvement in A&E performance and we are working closely with health boards to support sustained improvements for patients and staff and try to drive down long waits.
“A slight decrease in performance for August follows four consecutive months of sustained improvement and performance remains higher than at the same period last year.
“This is a consistent trend seen in previous years during August, with England and Wales also seeing a decrease in performance for this period.”
Speaking about the August statistics Mr Matheson added: “The changeover of many junior doctors occurred at the beginning of August resulted in short term disruption with normal patient flow slowing down as staff settled in and became familiar with processes.
“A number of large scale events also took place which contributed to increased attendances at some of the countries busiest sites.”