Michael Matheson must end the chaos in A&E to save lives, Jackie Baillie has warned, as new analysis estimates that long emergency department waits resulted in up to 33 excess deaths since the beginning of 2023 at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital.

In the week ending 7th May, only 65.8 percent of emergency department attendances were seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within the four-hour standard, leaving over 9,000 patients waiting longer. At Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, just 60.2 percent of patients were seen within the target time.

Shockingly, at the RAH’s A&E department, where Ms Baillie’s constituents from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven, Balloch and Helensburgh attend, 137 people were forced to wait for over eight hours with 24 of those waiting for 12 hours or more during that week alone.

Earlier this year, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine calculated that there will be an excess death for every 1 in 72 patients who spend between 8 and 12 hours in an Emergency Department. Based on the numbers waiting over eight hours in Scotland since the start of 2023, this would equate to up to 692 excess deaths in Scotland. At the RAH, alone, this would equate to more than 33 people losing their lives.

Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie, said: “This is a stark and shocking failure from a government that has pledged for months to get a handle on the crisis facing our A&E.

“These are not mere numbers – these are vulnerable people in need who have been failed by this SNP government. The fact that there could have been as many as 33 deaths at the RAH since the start of the year because of these lengthy waits is tragic.

“Treatment time standards exist for a reason – it has been shown that long waits result in worse outcomes for patients and even avoidable deaths. High numbers of patients waiting for four hours or more has become the norm but that doesn’t mean it is acceptable – far from it.

“The damage long waits cause cannot be understated. Hardworking staff are being pushed to breaking point and they are receiving nothing but warm words from the SNP.

“The SNP’s strategy of managed decline cannot be allowed to extend to our NHS, and their incompetence is costing lives.

“Michael Matheson must work to reverse the damage done by his predecessor by ending delayed discharge, sorting primary care, and ending the chaos in our A&E once and for all.”