More than 800 deaths in Scotland last year are believed to be linked to long A&E waits, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has claimed.
The figure, published alongside the college’s manifesto, is a third higher than the previous year and has been described by a leading consultant as a “national tragedy”.
It is worked out using a calculation based on the number of patients who waited more than 12 hours in Scotland’s emergency departments.
The RCEM found that 76,510 people waited more than 12 hours, a 26% increase on the previous year, with 58,906 of those people waiting to be admitted to a ward.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said the Scottish government recognised the link between long A&E waits and increased risk of harm, and it was investing £200m in reducing wait times.
Lives ‘shattered’
To calculate the number of deaths linked to long waits, the RCEM used a standard mortality ratio which suggests one person would die for every 72 patients experiencing an 8-12 hour wait before admission to a ward.
The college therefore estimated 818 excess deaths were recorded for people waiting more than 12 hours.
This is equal to about 16 deaths a week.
Dr Hunter said: “Behind this statistic are stories of heartbreak. Because these are people.
“Mums, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents – their deaths shattering the lives of families and friends.
“These are patients who are sick and need further care on a ward. So they are forced to endure extreme wait times for an inpatient bed to become available for them.”
She added: “Often they will be experiencing this, counting the hours they have been in ED (the emergency department), on a trolley in a corridor, cupboard, or simply any available floor space.
“It doesn’t have to be this way – the crisis is fixable and it comes down to patient flow in hospitals – getting people out of ED and into a ward bed and getting them out of hospital when they are well enough to go home.”
The RCEM also found that between 1 June and 31 July this year, about one in 24 people (9,881) waited 12 hours or more in A&E.
The figures were released alongside the RCEM’s manifesto ahead of the Holyrood election next year.
In the document, the RCEM called for an end to A&E overcrowding by investing in social care and focusing as much on stemming 12-hour waits and the four-hour target, as well as ensuring adequate staffing levels.
Dr Hunter added: “We urge all political parties to adopt the recommendations in our manifesto to give Scotland an emergency care system that we can be proud of once again.
“Because without government action, the cost will continue to be measured in lives.”
Health secretary Neil Gray said the Scottish government was committed to delivering improved performance and “shifting the focus of care from acute to community where better for patients”.
He said there had been progress with the latest monthly A&E figures, adding: “Our additional investment of £200m is further reducing waiting times and will see us have specialist frailty teams in every core A&E.”
Scottish Conservatives health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said government ministers should “hang their heads in shame” over the “completely avoidable deaths”.
He added: “Frontline staff are working flat out for their patients, but they’ve been failed by successive SNP health secretaries who still haven’t come up with a credible plan to address this national emergency.”
Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: “For years Scots have been dying as a result of dangerously long waits in A&E, but the SNP has stood idly by while this crisis ran riot.
“The SNP has no idea how to fix this crisis and our NHS cannot afford a third decade of this incompetence.”
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said people were waiting “excruciatingly long” in A&E.
He said: “Since the target was last met, there has been a merry-go-round of four SNP health secretaries, but not a single one has ever made a dent.”
