The Health Secretary must ‘wake up’ to the A&E crisis unfolding on his watch, Scottish Labour has said today.

Statistics published today have shown that only 71.3% of people at A&E were seen within 4 hours in the week ending 10^th October, the same record low percentage as the last week of September.

Of this percentage, some 1,871 spent more than 8 hours in A & E and 612 people waited longer than 12 hours.

Worryingly only 41% of patients were seen within 4 hours in NHS Forth Valley – the worst performance on record for any health board.

Scottish Labour deputy leader and health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said:  

“Week after week we are presented with the cold, hard fact that A&E services are being overwhelmed.

“We have been calling on the government to act for months, but instead they have dragged their heels and failed to support staff.

“With the army being called in to support several health boards, the Health Secretary cannot continue to pretend everything is rosy.

“Thousands of Scots are waiting several hours in pain for treatment. And health boards, like Forth Valley, are recording the worst statistics on record.

“Things have to change now, or else we face a winter of chaos.”