Jackie Baillie has warned that A&E remains in crisis as the number of attendees has fallen while performance remains low.

At the emergency department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where patients from West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond attend, the week ending 15^th January 2023 saw the lowest number of attendees since this time last year.

However less than half (45.5 percent) of the 925 patients who presented were seen within four hours.

This was the lowest figure of all NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hospitals.

The Dumbarton constituency MSP said: “We cannot afford to be complacent about the state of our A&E. While the number of people attending is falling, patients are still waiting far too long to be seen.

“The SNP will tell us that these figures represent an improvement, but we should never allow them to let thousands of people waiting too long be normalised.

“Health boards have been warning people to stay away from A&E but this could be dangerous as patients who need attention could slip through the net.

“Patient and staff wellbeing is still in danger, lives are being lost and staff are still under extreme pressure.

“The SNP must take seriously the need to end delayed discharge because the lack of bed capacity in hospitals is key to ending the crisis in A&E once and for all, not simply telling people not to attend.”