The NHS across the UK is struggling to meet demand. And nowhere are the issues more glaringly obvious than in A&E. For many, this remains their first point of contact with the health service.
But far too often, what starts out as an honest request for help turns into a grim endurance test of 12 hours or more. Such waiting times were vanishingly rare back in 2011.
But from 2016 on, they crept upwards and exploded during the pandemic. Just 784 people waited more than 12 hours in A&E wards 16 years ago – but by 2024 the number had risen to 76,346.
As alarm bells go, this one is ringing at ear-splitting volume. SNP ministers, when questioned on the issue, regularly point out that A&E wards in Scotland are the best performing in the UK.
But that argument has rightly been challenged by a senior medic. Dr John-Paul Loughrey asks whether being the “least worst” is really something worth lauding.
He warns, in plain terms, that lives are being put at risk by excessively long waiting times and ending them must be a political priority.
John Swinney has put himself at the forefront of the Scottish Government’s response to the crisis in the NHS. No one could accuse the First Minister of ducking the challenge.
But until these dangerous waiting times begin to come down, Scots will be rightly asking what has gone so badly wrong. The NHS really can’t go on like this.
Help Lockerbie
Lockerbie will forever be associated with the bombing of PanAm flight 103 and the deadliest terrorist atrocity in UK history. All 259 passengers and crew travelling to the US and 11 people on the ground were brutally murdered by cold-hearted killers.
The late Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi was convicted for his role in the bombing and another man, Abu Agila Mas’ud, is set to stand trial in the US. But opinion is divided within the families affected on whether Libya was responsible for the attacks.
Various theories have been advanced, causing even greater anxiety to the loved ones of the victims. So we support lawyer Peter Watson’s call for US President Trump to release any Lockerbie files held by the American authorities.
Trump has already signalled support for releasing files on the assassination of John F Kennedy and his brother Robert, as well as documents relating to 9/11. Shedding light on the Lockerbie murders would be a welcome move and bring comfort to the families.