Extreme A&E waits the new normal under the SNP

Responding to new figures showing only 61.3% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in the week ending 30th November 2025, while 4,416 people waited over 8 hours and 2,095 waited over 12 hours, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

"Under the SNP extreme waits at A&E are becoming the new normal. Having to wait half a day at A&E used to be a rare event, but now 2,000 people a week are waiting more than 12 hours.

"With winter now here, it is clear that the SNP have squandered the months it had to prepare and left our A&E departments in a perilous state. The Scottish Government needs to start taking serious action to reduce pressures and that should start with addressing the crisis in social care.

"A&E departments are backed up, because hospitals are rammed, because there are so many people stuck there who should be in care homes or looked after at home. You cannot fix the NHS without fixing social care.

"Scotland's A&E patients deserve better - and with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for change with fairness at its heart."