Scots still face 'atrocious' A&E waits as SNP blamed for 'two decades of incompetence' on health

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 20:47, 2 June 2026 | Updated: 20:47, 2 June 2026 SNP ministers have been accused of a ‘litany of broken promises’ on the NHS after rises in delayed discharges, cancelled operations and worsening A&E waits in April. Amid a raft of ‘atrocious’ statistics, the government was blamed for letting Scots down with ‘two decades of incompetence’ on health. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said A&E units were ‘as busy as ever’, despite the end of winter, and called for ‘concrete action’ to fix chronic overcrowding. Public Health Scotland reported 44,797 patients (35.8 per cent) waited longer than the official four-hour target in A&E in April, the worst figure for that month on record. Eight-hour waits were also at a record high for April, and 12-hour waits the second worst. Public Health Scotland reported 44,797 patients (35.8 per cent) waited longer than the official four-hour target in A&E in April A&E waits also deteriorated last week, with just 62.9 per cent of people treated, transferred or discharged inside four hours, down from 64.4 per cent week before A&E waits also deteriorated last week, with just 62.9 per cent of people treated, transferred or discharged inside four hours, down from 64.4 per cent week before. The SNP promised in 2015 to eradicate delayed discharge by the end of that year. The average daily number of bed blocked by patients well enough to leave hospital - most because of community care shortages - was 1,902 in April, up from 1,854 a year ago. And 1,990 planned operations were cancelled on the day or day before treatment was due in April - 8.1 per cent compared to 8 per cent a year earlier. Around a quarter of last-minute cancellations were due to capacity or ‘non-clinical reasons’. Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘These atrocious and worsening statistics expose one of the very worst of the SNP’s litany of broken promises. ‘The Nationalists pledged to eradicate delayed discharge more than a decade ago – but after two decades of incompetence, it’s become the shocking norm for thousands of Scots. ‘These agonising delays take a huge toll on physical and mental health, have a deadly domino effect on our NHS and cost hard-pressed taxpayers up to £440 million every year. John Swinney is facing more criticism over the NHS and waiting times ‘John Swinney and his new health secretary Angela Constance can’t just bury their heads in the sand – patients and frontline staff desperately need action from their government.’ Scottish Labour deputy Dame Jackie Baillie said: ‘We’ve had enough empty promises – we need real action from John Swinney and the SNP to give Scotland an NHS it can rely on.’ RCEM Scotland vice president Dr Fiona Hunter said: ‘We must see concrete action on A&E overcrowding. Angela Constance has an uphill battle ahead of her.’ Ms Constance said: ‘I am committed to improving A&E performance and tackling delays for patients. We will be publishing a new national plan for improving the flow of patients through our hospitals within our first 100 days.’ The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.