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Thousands of Scots are waiting in pain for surgery because the A&E crisis is spilling over into the rest of the NHS, a damning new study has shown.
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study → click → NHS
Emergency departments continue to be swamped with patients with the SNP government failing to meet its own swift-treatment target for six years.
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government → continue → years
Now medics at NHS Lanarkshire have published data suggesting the daily deluge is creating knock-on waiting lists elsewhere, especially for those needing operations.
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deluge → publish → operations
It shows for the first time how the contagion of A&E queues is infecting other parts of hospitals.
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contagion → show → hospitals
The paper - published in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management - warns of growing ‘concerns about cancelling elective operations to cope with emergency services’.
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paper → publish → services
And the authors call on ministers to start protecting beds for those requiring surgery.
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authors → call → surgery
Last night, Scottish Conservative health and care spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘This damning study lays bare the consequences of the SNP’s chronic mismanagement of A&E services.
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study → say → services
‘Not only are A&E patients waiting too long to be seen, their failures are now resulting in vital operations being cancelled.
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operations → wait → ?
Delays in Scotland's emergency departments are having a knock-on effect on waiting times elsewhere in the health service
Health Secretary Angela Constance admits long waits are 'unacceptable'
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waits → have → service
‘When A&E collapses, planned care is getting raided to keep the show on the road.
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care → collapse → road
‘First Minister John Swinney cannot keep robbing Peter to pay Paul and call it an NHS recovery.’
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Swinney → keep → it
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie added: ‘This SNP Government has presided over chaos in our NHS.
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Government → add → NHS
‘They are patting themselves on the back and claiming that things have turned a corner, but the truth is patients who are suffering won’t be fooled by cherry-picked statistics.
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who → pat → statistics
‘We need meaningful progress on tackling Scotland’s abysmal waiting lists.’
May this year saw a new monthly record of 129,453 visits to A&E.
SNP ministers have decreed that at least 95 per cent of patients should be dealt with within four hours, but the target has not been met since June 2020.
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target → need → June
In July this year, the figure stood at only 65 per cent with the standard breached in 43,770 cases.
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standard → stand → cases
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the NHS that month, 2,214 operations were cancelled.
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operations → cancel → NHS
The study’s authors - who work at University Hospital Wishaw and include consultant surgeon Kawan Shalli - set out to discover if there is a link.
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who → work → Shalli
They took detailed A&E data for Scotland’s five largest health boards - Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Lothian, Grampian, Lanarkshire and Tayside - for the most recent year available, 2021.
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They → take → year
Then they overlaid similar figures for general surgical departments, which cover minor operations and procedures.
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which → overlay → operations
Analysis showed a link between long A&E waits and delays in the other, supposedly-unrelated services offered by hospitals, the effect especially strong in Lothian.
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effect → show → Lothian
The study concluded that bosses are commandeering beds to deal with bulges in daily walk-in demand - but that then simply creates queues in other departments.
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that → conclude → departments
It stated: ‘Efforts to reduce Emergency Department waiting times have included improved intra-hospital bed flow, adequate day beds, clinical streaming and early senior review.
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Efforts → state → flow
‘While these interventions can improve ED performance, they often place competing pressures on elective services.
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they → improve → services
‘Our stratified analysis across Scotland’s five largest health boards support this tension; regions with higher ED breaches generally showed longer elective waits.
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regions → support → waits
‘To ensure timely and adequate treatment of patients, policymakers should invest in resources to improve the efficiency of both emergency and elective services and introduce management plans that balance the needs of both services.’
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that → ensure → services
Health Secretary Angela Constance said: ‘Long waits are unacceptable.
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waits → say → ?
‘While the challenges facing Scotland are not unique, I am focused on ensuring people get the care they need as quickly as possible.
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they → face → care
The status quo cannot continue.
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quo → continue → ?
‘I have published a new national plan to improve the flow of patients through hospitals and we have provided £90million of dedicated funding to support those waiting the longest for treatment.
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we → publish → treatment
‘However, pressures on our A&E are impacted by the delayed discharge of patients into social care settings.
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pressures → impact → settings
‘Not all of this is in the gift of the Scottish Government so it is vital we work closely with councils and social care providers to reform the system as a whole.’
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we → work → whole
The Aporia
