A&E target met for the first time in a year
Glasgow ambulance - Michel
The four hour accident and emergency waiting time target has been met by the NHS in Scotland for the first time since July last year.
Across Scotland’s biggest A&E departments in the week ending 11 June, 95.3 per cent of patients were seen, admitted or discharged within four hours.
The government-set target is 95 per cent.
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The figure was 94.2 per cent the previous week and 94.7 per cent at the same time last year, according to official statistics from the Information Services Division (ISD).
The national average for trusts in England is 85.7 per cent.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said the figures showed the effectiveness of interventions on the front line introduced in 2015.
The six essential actions for improving unscheduled care include a focus on the patient and their journey through their care rather than the beds available.
“Scotland has had the best performing emergency departments in the UK for more than two years. This has only been possible thanks to the hard work of NHS and social care workers,” she said.
Robison added: “We will continue to work closely with boards to implement the six essential actions for unscheduled care, which are helping to minimise long waits and improve patient flow through hospitals and into community care.
“I recently announced an additional £9 million to fund this work, and I am confident that will lead to sustained improvements.”
The £9m investment, announced last month, came after A&E departments struggled over the winter months despite a number of innovative approaches tested across health boards to minimise delays in patients being discharged from hospital.
The percentage of those waiting under four hours is traditionally much lower in winter when conditions can lead to falls and aggravate long term conditions.
In the first week of 2017, for example, only 87.9 per cent of all emergency patients were being treated and discharged within four hours.
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