SNP under fire for A&E 'meltdown' after 'atrocious' waiting statistics revealed
Despite the SNP vowing toe end all waits of more than a year by March, 44,363 patients had been waiting more than 52 weeks in November.
SNP ministers have been accused of overseeing the "meltdown" of the NHS after new statistics revealed the worst ever November for A&E waits - despite the Health Secretary boasting over “real and sustained progress” in cutting long waiting times for non-emergency care.
Data from Public Health Scotland shows that in November 2025, 45,719 people waited more than four hours in A&E, making it the worst November on record.
In November 2024, 43,756 people waited at least four hours in A&E, 40,897 in 2023, 41,243 in 2022 and 28,812 in 2021.
Scottish Conservative health spokesperson, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: “These atrocious statistics prove that our NHS was in meltdown under the SNP even before the height of winter.
The SNP government has pledged to end all waits of more than a year to see an NHS specialist or to start treatment by March in a key pre-election promise - but as of November 2025, 688,068 inpatient and day-case and outpatient ongoing waits were recorded, with 70,209 of these for more than a year, of which – 9,389 were over two years.
A total of 44,363 waits were recorded for outpatient appointments for more than 52 weeks, with 5,009 enduring waits of longer than two years.
Scottish Labour health spokesperson, Dame Jackie Baillie, said: “These figures are deeply troubling and underline the dire state that our health service is in.”
The concerns come as separate Public Health Scotland statistics showed the number of patients waiting more than 52 weeks for an outpatient appointment fell by 12.8 per cent in a single month between October and November 2025 – with numbers now lower than April 2025. Long waits on the NHS have now fallen for the sixth month in a row.
Inpatient and day case treatment waits of 52 weeks have also reduced compared to April 2025. More than 265,000 inpatient or day case procedures were carried out over a 12-month period to November 2025, a 3.8 per cent increase on the previous year.
More than 1.3 million outpatient appointments took place in the 12-month period to November 2025, up 2.8 per cent from the previous year.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said: "These figures demonstrate real and sustained progress in reducing waiting times for patients across Scotland, ensuring thousands more people receive the care they need.
“There is still much more to do, but I am encouraged that we are demonstrating consistent month-on-month improvement. We remain committed to ensuring no patient waits longer than 52 weeks by March 2026."
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has urged the Scottish Government to prioritise tackling delayed discharges and overcrowding in A&E or risk the entire system collapsing under the strain of an incredibly difficult winter.
It comes after statistics showed one in 15 patients (8,065) waited 12 or more hours in a type-1 emergency department before being admitted, transferred or discharged in that month alone, the worst figures for a November since records began in 2007.
Dr Fiona Hunter, RCEM vice president for Scotland, said: “Very sick and injured people are lining corridors, crammed into whatever space we can find, because of exit block and a complete breakdown in flow out of hospitals. With warnings of storms, snow and freezing temperatures, the situation is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better.“
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.