Cole-Hamilton: Continued long waits in A&E shows lack of SNP focus

Responding to new figures showing only 64.3% of attendees were seen within the 4 hours A&E target in the week ending 19th November, and 12.1% waiting over 8 hours, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"Week after week we see long waits in Scotland's A&E departments, yet week after week the First Minister and the Health Secretary fail to properly focus on tackling this crisis.

"Humza Yousaf's NHS recovery plan has demonstrably failed, we desperately need this SNP government to bring its focus back to the crisis in our A&E departments and put together a new plan. Scotland needs a government laser focused on the day job and that will put the voices of staff first.

"That means overhauling the NHS recovery plan, bringing forward an urgent inquiry into the hundreds of avoidable deaths linked to the emergency care crisis and implementing measures which will meaningfully tackle burnout among staff.”