Scottish Labour continue to call for Humza Yousaf’s resignation, as figures show another week of poor performance in A&E, as well as continued pressure caused by delayed discharge.

In the week ending 4^th December, a mere 63.4 percent of attendances at A&E were seen and resulted in a subsequent admission, transfer, or discharge within four hours. At the RAH, this was just 55.2 percent.

Shockingly, over 3,000 patients languished for over eight hours in an emergency department, and a further 1,276 patients were forced to suffer for more than 12 hours to be admitted, transferred, or discharged. 81 of those who had to wait 12 hours or more were at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley where many constituents from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Lomond attend. This represented almost eight percent of the total number of patients who attended that week.

Only three hospitals fared worse proportionally for 12-hour waits across the whole of Scotland during the week ending 4^th December.

A report published today also showed the huge pressure that delayed discharge puts on hospitals. The report, covering the financial year 2021/22, showed that 1 in 11 bed days were occupied by patients who were delayed in their discharge. This trend has only got worse in recent months.

Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie said: “Week after week the SNP show that they cannot get a handle on the crisis in our A&E departments, despite the persistent efforts of staff.

“People have been stranded for more than 12 hours in A&E across the country and these figures, coupled with abysmal delayed discharge, make this grim picture look even worse.

“The proportion of people waiting in pain for treatment at the emergency department in Paisley is higher than at most hospitals across the country. Many of the patients who attend here are from my constituency and have already made the lengthy journey, often in pain, to be seen.

“Attendances will only go up as we enter the coldest part of winter, but emergency departments are struggling as it is.

“Scottish Labour recently launched a campaign to save our NHS, but it is clear that the record-breaking Humza Yousaf is not the person for this job.

“The SNP must get a grip on this crisis and take urgent action before any more lives are lost. Our NHS is on life support- and the SNP are not doing enough to save it.”