With A&E waiting times across Scotland at their worst for six years, Scottish Conservative MSP Brian Whittle is challenging the Scottish Government to take a new approach.
The South Scotland MSP is urging the SNP to take up a proposal from the Scottish Conservatives for a £600 million fund dedicated to reducing waiting times. The Scottish Government’s target is for no more than 5% of patients visiting to wait more than four hours to be seen, but the latest data shows that the actual figure was almost 25%.
Health boards across South Scotland are falling well short of the target, with more than 20% of patients in Ayrshire & Arran and over 30% of patients in Lanarkshire , and the Borders waiting over 4 hours to be seen.
Brian is calling for Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to work more closely with medics to turn the situation around. The Scottish Conservatives have set out proposals for a £600 million fund, led dedicated team of doctors, nurses and others with direct experience of working in A&E, to reduce waiting times.
Brian Whittle MSP said: “A&E waiting times in Ayrshire & Arran and other health boards across Scotland are becoming more and more unacceptable.
As we work to restore the NHS following the pandemic, it’s vital that we listen to the ideas of those who know it best – the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other NHS staff who have been working so hard to look after us all.
That’s why the Scottish Conservatives are proposing a £600 million fund to reduce waiting times and take those ideas forward.
The situation in our A&Es can’t be allowed to continue and there’s no sign the SNP have any idea how to fix it.
Rather than dismissing our proposals out of hand, I’m urging Humza Yousaf and the Scottish Government to take it seriously and show they’re as committed to bringing waiting times under control as the Scottish Conservatives are.”
