Figures give ‘terrifying snapshot’ of pressures in A&E, Tories say

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s A&E department operated beyond capacity every day last month, the Scottish Conservatives have revealed.The party said statistics provided through a freedom of information request present a “terrifying snapshot” of the pressures faced by emergency departments.Routine hourly checks by staff at the hospital showed that its A&E capacity of 40 patients was exceeded throughout August by an average of 200% – or 80 patients – at any given time.

On its busiest day over the summer months – August 15 – the department reported looking after 144 patients, meaning it was over capacity by 104.The NHS Lothian figures also showed that, since the start of 2022, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s emergency department has, on average, been beyond capacity for 22 hours per day.

The Tories said that similar capacity issues have also been reported in A&E departments at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Western General Hospital, and St John’s Hospital in Livingston over the summer.Accident leaves woman with two holes in her eye after nightmare holidayCCTV image released of masked man after Scots schoolgirl sexually assaulted on wooded footpathScottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, has urged for action before “more lives are needlessly lost” due to excessive delays.

He has warned he is “certain” the over-capacity issues are “not unique to NHS Lothian”.Dr Gulhane said: “These stats provide a terrifying snapshot of the unbearable strain frontline A&E staff are operating under in Scotland.“I’m certain that the over-capacity crisis they reveal is not unique to NHS Lothian, because we know how bad waiting-time figures are in emergency wards across Scotland.“But it still beggars belief