Flu cases put 'very high pressure' on NHS Scotland

Scotland's NHS is facing "very high levels of winter pressure" after an increase in flu cases, Health Secretary Neil Gray has said.

Public Health Scotland data for the final week of 2024 showed 58.4% of patients in A&E were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within the Scottish government's target time of four hours.

The figures rank joint fifth in the worst weekly figures on record but mark an improvement on the previous week's performance of 56.7%.

Gray said there was "no doubt Scotland had been hit hard by the flu this winter" with more than 1,500 people hospitalised in the last week as a result of the influenza A virus.

Scottish Labour's health spokesperson Dame Jackie Baillie said the SNP was setting "all the wrong records" for Scotland's NHS.

She added: "For thousands of Scots, the festive season meant a harrowing wait of more than 12 hours in A&E.

"Rather than using the rest of the year to prepare for winter pressures, the SNP's complacency has plunged our NHS into chaos."

The Scottish government has set the target of having 95% of patients in A&E admitted, transferred or discharged in four hours.

Figures showed November 2024 as the worst November on record with over 83,000 Scots attending the emergency room and less than two-thirds dealt with in the targeted time.

During November, the four-hour target was missed for 43,216 patients, with 14,758 waiting eight hours or more and 6,683 waiting for a minimum of 12 hours.

For the week ending 29 December 2024, almost 24,000 people attended emergency departments with 9,983 waiting longer than four hours.

The worst weekly A&E waiting times performance was recorded in the week ending 18 December 2022 - when 54.8% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within the four-hour target.

The health secretary stressed it "remains crucially important that people only attend A&E in a genuine emergency".

"If this is not the case, there are online tools at NHS Inform, and NHS 24 can be contacted on 111," he said.

He added that for life-threatening emergencies, people should "always call 999".

Gray said the sustained pressure facing the NHS was "not unique to Scotland" but acknowledged the performance "is not at the level that we wish to see".

He said First Minister John Swinney held regular meetings over the festive period to support health boards.

Speaking in parliament, the health secretary said 1.2m adults in Scotland had been vaccinated against the virus by 15 December.

But Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said a plan to guarantee money to the frontline was needed, rather than being "wasted on pointless bureaucracy".

Dr Gulhane told MSPs some callers to NHS 24 had to wait over four hours for help, with more than 100,000 calls to the helpline "abandoned due to waiting too long".

"The SNP have no vision or plan to support our NHS and lives are at risk as a result," he added.

Dr Gulhane, who is a GP, also said there had been a "25% reduction in vaccinations delivered compared to last year".