Murdo has slammed the latest A&E waiting times for Fife, describing them as “unacceptable.”
He was commenting following the release earlier this week of statistics by Public Health Scotland, which show that the number of patients at Fife’s A&E department at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, who were seen within the target of four hours fell from 942 in the week ending April 7, to 859 in the week ending April 14.
The figures also reveal that the number of patients who had to wait more than four hours increased from 458 to 524 in the same period. And the number of A&E patients who waited more than eight hours to be seen increased from 74 in the week ending April 7 to 114 in the week ending April 14.
Commenting, Murdo said: “These latest statistics on the A&E waiting times are unacceptable and must be addressed by the SNP Government. This is an issue that unfortunately never seems to improve and should be one of the SNP’s main priorities. Instead, we have seen the hapless First Minister having to resign following the tactical move by Douglas Ross putting forward a motion of no confidence in him within a few hours of the announcement of the coalition government ending.
“During Humza Yousaf’s tenure as Health Minister, A&E waiting time figures were poor and they are still a major cause for concern under the present Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, Neil Gray.”
Murdo continued: “These concerning A&E waiting time statistics are symptomatic of the SNP’s poor handling of our NHS and show just how much they have completely lost focus on issues that matter to the people of Scotland. We are now left with a lame duck First Minister until a new SNP leader is chosen, but in the meantime A&E patients in Fife are suffering from lengthy waits to receive medical treatment. It is a shocking set of affairs and it is time the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery woke up and faced the reality of what is happening on the frontline of the NHS in Fife.”
Since 2007, A&E performance has been monitored against the Scottish Government's 4-hour access standard. This suggests that 95% of A&E patients should wait no longer than four hours from arrival to admission.
