Harley responds to bleak state of health service ahead of winter

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Adam Harley MSP has today said that the parliament must be focused on fixing the NHS ahead of the winter months as new figures revealed poor attendance rates at walk-in GP centres, huge waits for tests, treatments and care packages, and thousands of people waiting at A&E.

New figures from Public Health Scotland show that:

• For the 11 GP walk-in centres that had been open for the full month of September, 5,756 cases were reported. Across all centres, this equates, on average, to 17 people attending every day.
• There are 9,877 people waiting for either a social care assessment or for a care package.
• Out of 27,811 attendances at type 1 A&E departments last week, 4,130 waited more than 8 hours, and 1,694 waited more than 12 hours.
• There are 772,603 ongoing waits for NHS tests and treatments. The Scottish Government has once again missed its target of 95% of new outpatient cases waiting no longer than 12 weeks from referral to treatment. In the last month, this only happened for 61.3% of patients.

On GP walk-in centres, Adam said:

“The SNP claimed that these clinics would solve the GP crisis, but there are still big questions about their effectiveness.

“GPs are still facing enormous pressures, while patients are still grappling with the 8am rush.

“The focus needs to be on hiring more specialist staff to work alongside GPs and enabling pharmacists to do more prescribing. That’s how we can free up GP time and get everyone seen quicker.”

On social care waits, he said:

“Many of these people will be waiting on a hospital bed for the care package or assessment they need. During that time, their bed is not a place of treatment- it is simply another waiting room.

“This situation is reducing available space across our hospitals, driving up waits at A&E and causing ambulances to stack up outside.

“We desperately need to get people the care packages they need. The best way to do that is to boost pay and conditions for care workers and recruit more people into caring professions.”  

On A&E waits, he said:

“Many people will remember a day they had to attend A&E as one of the most stressful of their lives. Waiting more than 4, or 8, or 12 hours to see a medic can only make it worse, especially where patients often end up stuck on trolleys in corridors because of the chronic shortage of beds.

“Without fixing the twin problems of delayed discharge and NHS understaffing, the Scottish government will never be able to guarantee that people visiting A&E can count on prompt treatment when they need it.”

On treatment waiting lists, he said:

“It’s too easy to forget that behind the numbers on waiting lists are thousands of people waiting in pain and anxiety for treatment that could transform their quality of life.

“The target to get 95% of people treated within ten weeks of referral is entirely reasonable. That the NHS is struggling to get to two-thirds of that figure is not. In the interests of public health, fairness and compassion, we need to address this crisis as a matter of urgency.”