MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy says Glasgow health services are in crisis

Pam Duncan-Glancy said she could “hardly believe” how overwhelmed Scotland’s health boards have been as she warns Glasgow’s medical services are at “breaking point”.

The latest public health Scotland data has revealed that A&E performance across Scotland is at a low point, with almost 6800 people waiting more than eight hours in September alone.

The figures show the crisis has hit NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hard, with 1624 people waiting more than eight hours in September and a shocking 258 were left languishing more than 12 hours.

Ms Duncan-Glancy said: “I could hardly believe the reply I received from the Chief Operating Officer of NHS Scotland who in one sentence said the NHS wasn’t overwhelmed … To any reasonable onlooker, this is a crisis It’s time the government recognised this.

“Lives are already on the line, and if we don’t act now things will only get worse as we head into winter.

“This is a government without a workable plan, so we have a health service in freefall.

“We need urgent action to save our A&E services and to make sure NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde can cope.”

In a letter to the Labour MSP from NHS Scotland chief John Burns, which has been seen by the Glasgow Times, confirmed a £20million support package for the Scottish Ambulance Service – which included assistance from more than 100 military personnel, around 100 second year paramedic students to help in ambulance control rooms, increasing hospital ambulance liaison officers from 11 to 20, volunteer drivers from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and support from the British Red Cross – had been deployed to help reduce wait times.

However, Ms Duncan-Glancy has now called on Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to take further action to prevent a serious “crisis” as the harshest point of winter approaches.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This week’s figures show again a slight improvement on recent weeks, but we know that A&E units across the UK continue to be hit by the direct and indirect impacts of Covid-19.

“Scotland’s core A&E departments continue to outperform those in the rest of the UK and have done so for more than six years.

“The Health Secretary has been very clear this will be the most difficult winter in NHS history and that’s why we’ve announced £300 million of measures to increase NHS and social care capacity as part of our strategy to simultaneously tackle the various issues combining in extra A&E waits.

“Alongside the additional £10 million investment recently announced to prevent delayed discharge and avoid hospital stays, we recently announced a further £10 million in winter funding which aims to ease pressures in A&E departments and minimise delays that patients are currently experiencing when they need urgent care.

“This includes co-ordinated work to reduce the time people need to spend in hospital so that others can be admitted quickly.

"It also includes the deployment of expert physio and occupational therapy staff at A&E units to help triage people best treated elsewhere.”