The shocking figures that reveal how bad Scotland's A&E crisis has got under SNP – Jackie Baillie
Emergency departments in two flagship hospitals can sometimes be forced to deal with more than double or triple the number of patients they are designed to treat
Candour is so important in politics. Voters deserve to hear the truth from those in power and to know they understand their duty to get things right.
This is why it was refreshing to read in The Scotsman yesterday that Health Secretary Angela Constance understands that, in her own words, “the status quo is not an option” for Scotland’s NHS.
After a weekend spent dealing with intense criticism from clinicians and experts, we would expect to hear nothing else. But we shouldn’t get our hopes up too soon.
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Warm words from failed Health Secretaries
“For too many people, they are waiting too long and that is unacceptable.” An admirable sentiment. But who said that? It was former Health Secretary Neil Gray who was shuffled out after totally failing to get a grip of our health service.
“Our NHS requires major reform.” I couldn’t agree more. But who said that? None other than full-time football fan and part-time Health Secretary Michael Matheson who left a trail of failure and scandal in his wake.
Warm words are welcome but they are no substitute for action. The truth is that our NHS is at breaking point – putting patients at risk and leaving doctors and nurses at the end of their tether.
A chilling warning
At the weekend, Dr Fiona Hunter, vice-chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said that she was “completely terrified” by the situation in Scotland’s hospitals as we head into winter. She warned that A&E departments were "unsafe" – and that some patients had been left on trollies for 72 hours.
Now the crisis in our A&E departments is not new. But this SNP government and its rotating cast of Health Secretaries has entirely failed to get to grips with the situation.
Information that I have obtained by Freedom of Information request has laid bare the scale of the chaos. Emergency departments – larger A&E units that provide a 24/7, consultant-led service – treat patients with serious and life-threatening conditions. They are places where every second counts.
But the shocking truth is that there are not enough beds for patients and doctors are having to tackle serious cases with patients stuck in trollies in corridors.
Constance is not a spectator
The emergency department at Glasgow’s flagship Queen Elizabeth University hospital has 53 beds. But on June 1 this year, there were 113 patients in the department – more than double the number of beds.
And in Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary the situation is similarly dire. On the same day as the Glasgow number was recorded, there were 126 patients in its emergency department. However, it has only 38 cubicles – leaving more than three patients to each space, many of them at risk of being treated in corridors. And this was at the start of summer.
It is no wonder doctors are terrified of what is to come. Angela Constance is right to say that the situation is “unacceptable”. But she is not a spectator – fixing this mess is her responsibility.
It’s long past time that SNP Health Secretaries decided to focus on saving lives, not chasing soundbites.
Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health
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