MORE than three in 10 patients in Scotland waited more than four hours for care in emergency departments, according to performance figures for the week ending 10 April.
Four-hour performance in Scottish EDs was 66.2 per cent, the lowest ever on record, with nearly one in six patients (2,373) waiting more than eight hours.
Dr John Thomson, vice president of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, commented: "We are continuing to see severely poor performance in the emergency care system. Staff are becoming more and more burnt out; the appalling crisis in emergency care is seriously distressing.
"The public are extremely worried about these long waiting times, and rightly so, because patients are coming to harm. Staff continue doing all they can to deliver care and keep patients safe, but it is incredibly challenging.
"The government cannot let this deteriorate further, staff and patients urgently need meaningful action now to tackle the desperate situation in emergency care and address the widespread staff shortages, the bed shortages, and the social care crisis."
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