Hundreds of patients are spending hours waiting for beds in Scotland’s emergency departments but staff are afraid to speak out, it has been claimed.
David Chung, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said: “There are several hospitals where patients have been on trolleys lining the corridors. Staff are wary about speaking up about this because they are worried they will get chastised for it.”
In the first week of February, 528 patients experienced delays of eight hours or more, including 139 who faced 12-hour waits before they were admitted to hospital. The proportion of people dealt with in four hours fell to 85 per cent, the same as at the height of a flu crisis last January. Levels of flu have been