Jackie Baillie has today warned that rising rates of delayed discharge are driving a “life-threatening” crisis in our NHS.

Figures published today painted another grim picture for Scotland’s struggling NHS, with monthly A&E performance in March falling to the lowest point on record.

Just 58 percent of people who attended at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital in March, where patients from West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond are sent, were admitted, transferred or discharged within the target time of four hours.

This was well short of the national average of 71.6 percent.

Included in this figure were 805 people who had to wait for more than eight hours and 257 who had a wait of more than 12 hours.

Meanwhile, delayed discharge levels rose by a staggering eight per cent in March of this year, piling pressure on to already-stretched services.

Dumbarton constituency MSP and Scottish Labour’s Health and Covid Recovery spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “Every passing month seems to bring a new record breaking low, but the SNP still keep failing to act.

“Lives are being lost because of people being left stranded at A&E waiting for urgent help. The lack of bed capacity in hospitals due to delayed discharge is having a direct impact on waiting times at A&E and people in Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Balloch, Helensburgh and Lomond are among the worst affected.

“The SNP’s dismal failure to tackle delayed discharge, having promised to end it more than seven years ago, is driving this life-threatening crisis and piling pressure on to every part of our NHS.

“The Health Secretary must stop commenting on this crisis and start tackling it.

“We urgently need a real plan to tackle these spiralling levels of delayed discharge and protect out NHS.”