Murdo has accused the SNP Government of presiding over “terrifying” A&E waiting times in Fife.
His remarks come after the release of monthly A&E waiting times for November showed that only 65.8% of patients across Scotland were seen within the SNP’s four-hour target waiting time. The SNP’s target is for 95% of patients to be seen within that time after arriving at A&E.
The overall figure for A&E patients who were seen within four hours in Fife was 72.7%, with this figure only reaching 64.5% at the region’s main A&E department at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Murdo says these waits are “intolerable” and “undoubtedly put lives at risk” and insists that the SNP have failed to give dedicated staff the resources they need to see patients quickly enough. He said that the SNP’s failures mean A&E services in Fife are in “permanent crisis” mode and that this could “spiral out of control” over winter.
He has urged SNP Cabinet Health Secretary Neil Gray to come up with a proper plan for the health service, which ensures money gets to the frontline, rather than being wasted on pointless bureaucracy.
Commenting, Murdo said: “A&E waiting times in Fife are terrifying.
“Far too many patients are waiting too long to be seen in the Kingdom and we know that undoubtedly puts lives at risk. These waits are intolerable and successive SNP Health Secretaries have left NHS Fife without the resources to meet the demands of patients turning up in A&E.
“A&E departments are in permanent crisis mode and as winter continues there is a real danger the waits will spiral out of control.”
Murdo added: “These waiting times must finally be the wake-up call for Neil Gray to deliver a proper plan to support Scotland’s NHS. This must prioritise getting money to the frontline in Fife rather than being wasted on pointless bureaucracy.”
