NHS Scotland crisis: Patients 'are not safe in Scotland's A&Es' as health secretary defends winter planning

Patient safety is at risk “every single day”, with patients in desperate need of intensive care waiting hours in Accident and Emergency departments across Scotland, the deputy chair of British Medical Association Scotland has said.

The harrowing description of the scenes in hospitals came as health secretary Humza Yousaf admitted patients were receiving care he would not want to receive himself as the NHS continues to battle intense winter pressures.

Dr Lailah Peel, deputy chair of the Scottish arm of the British Medical Association (BMA), told the BBC’s Sunday Show the crisis was “years in the making”. She blamed a creaking social care system and increased delayed discharges.

The comments come after details of a January 2021 briefing from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the College of Paramedics to the health secretary warned of an unacceptable situation in Scotland’s hospitals.

Reported in the Sunday Times, the briefing also specified the actions needed to avoid a similar situation during the current winter crisis, warning an increase of at least 1,000 new beds was needed as well as more doctors and nurses.

Dr Peel said it was the case patients were “absolutely” dying in hospitals in Scotland due to the ongoing crisis in the health service. "There’s no shadow of a doubt that that is happening,” she told the BBC.

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Source: The Scotsman, 8 January 2023