Patients waiting 12 hours in A&E doubled over New Year
The Scottish Government defended the wait times and said they showed some improvement during the busy first week of the year.
The proportion of A&E patients waiting in excess of 12 hours during the New Year period more than doubled, according to new statistics.
Latest figures show some 6.8% of patients spent more than 12 hours in an emergency department during the week ending January 4 compared to 3.2% the week before.
The proportion of patients seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours dropped to 62.7% compared to 68.8% the previous week.
Some 14% of patients spent more than eight hours in an emergency department compared to 9% the previous week, according to the data.
The number of people attending A&E also increased from 23,348 to 24,175 as the country celebrated the new year.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said the figures signalled some improvement - but that more was required.
He said: “While this is the highest performance for the first week of the year since 2022, I am clear that we must drive improvement.
“Our A&E departments are facing sustained pressure and we continue to see higher levels of hospital occupancy which is impacting on patient flow and leading to delays at the front door.
“This situation is not unique to Scotland with all other UK nations experiencing similar pressures.
“We are investing over £220 million to reduce waiting times, improve hospital flow and minimise delayed discharges, and our plan is working.
“To support winter activity, we are providing up to £20 million to fund increased social care and reduce pressure on the hospital front door, to make sure people get the right care in the right place.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, tied the delays in A&E to Scotland’s delayed discharge crisis when people are unable to leave hospital given they have no care package to go home to.
It comes as the number of people delayed in leaving hospital hit another high in November 2025.
Latest Public Health Scotland figures show 2,009 people were stuck in hospital at the November census- the highest number for 2025 so far.
Earlier this month, Audit Scotland reported that delayed discharge - also known as bed blocking - cost the NHS at least £440 million last year, with one in every nine beds in Scottish healthcare settings occupied by someone who does not need to be there.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “We know from the recent Audit Scotland report how expensive these delays can be to the NHS. Behind these figures are people like Margaret MacGill, whose case I recently raised with the First Minister. She’s desperate to get home to her loved ones and get the care she needs in the community.
“It’s now been ten years since Shona Robison, as Health Secretary, promised to get rid of delayed discharge altogether, but it’s as bad as ever.
"If people are delayed in leaving hospital, waits in A&E departments ramp up and ambulances stack up outside.
"Our health and social care services deserve better than this. Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have a realistic plan to fix the crisis. We would create a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers, £2 higher than the national minimum wage, to tackle the chronic staff shortages in care and make social care a profession of choice again.”
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