A Highland MSP has criticised the A&E waiting times at Raigmore Hospital, which he has called “dangerous”.
Edward Mountain, MSP outside Raigmore Hospital. Picture: James Mackenzie.
Edward Mountain said the Inverness hospital is “once again falling short” of the required standard” after recently released figures show that nearly 30 per cent of Raigmore’s A&E patients were forced to wait for longer than 4 hours in November.
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Currently, the Scottish Government’s target is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within 4 hours of arriving at A&E.
In November, Raigmore Hospital kept more than 100 people waiting in A&E for more than 12 hours.
This represents 64 per cent of waits exceeding the 12-hour threshold across the NHS Highland board – however Raigmore accounted for 44 per cent of NHS Highland’s A&E admissions that month.
Mr Mountain stated: “Having spoken out about Raigmore’s Accident and Emergency waiting times in the autumn, I am very disappointed that the hospital is once again not coming close to the Scottish Government’s targets.
“Highlanders must frequently travel for several hours to get to A&E, to then spend even longer in a waiting room. Time is of the essence in medical emergencies; these waiting times are distressing for the patient, as well as unacceptable.
“Once again, I implore the Scottish Government to formulate a comprehensive plan to meet its accident and emergency waiting time targets.
“The delays experienced at Raigmore are mirrored nationwide, and as the winter continues I fear that the situation will only deteriorate.”
He said that in sight of these figures, he hopes Scottish Government will pay “greater attention to Highlanders and their specific healthcare needs”.
In November, the national average saw around 65 per cent of patients seen within the target four-hour waiting time.
Public Health Scotland’s website, from which these figures are taken, states that ‘compliance has been below 80 per cent since summer 2021.’
Addressing the comments, a NHS Highland spokesperson replied: “We are disappointed to read these comments. Similar to other areas across Scotland and the UK we are experiencing high levels of demand across all of our services during what is a very trying time for health and social care.
“Our staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure safe, person-centred and effective care. To have them criticised in this way is unhelpful. Our teams go above and beyond every day caring for their patients in very challenging circumstances.
“We are always looking at ways we can improve our patient experience and prioritise those with the greatest clinical need.”