Almost a third of patients attending A&E departments in the first week of 2022 waited more than four hours before being assessed – the worst figure on record.

Some 32.6% of the 21,163 patients attending A&E in the first week of the year waited more than four hours before they were admitted to hospital, transferred or discharged, according to new statistics published by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday.

The Scottish Government’s target of 95% of patients being attended to within four hours has not been met since July 2020 and the 67.4% seen in that time during the week ending January 9 is the lowest ever recorded.

Of the 6902 patients who waited longer than four hours, 2079 waited over eight hours and 690 people spent more than 12 hours at A&E before being seen.

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