\n The number of complaints received directly by NHS territorial and special boards also rose by 3 per cent, from 23,876 to 24,531, while the proportion of complaints upheld at Stage One increased by two percentage points to 39 per cent.\n<\/p>\n
\n The publication of the complaints data comes as separate weekly statistics show mounting pressure on emergency care. In the week ending 11 January, only 59.2 per cent of patients attending A&E were seen within the four-hour target.\n<\/p>\n
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\n During the same week, 4,874 people, 19 per cent of attendances, waited more than eight hours to be seen, while 2,727 patients, or 10.6 per cent, waited more than 12 hours. It was the second worst week on record for both eight-hour and 12-hour waits.\n<\/p>\n
\n Historical comparisons show that only the week ending 1 January 2023 recorded worse performance, when 21.1 per cent of patients waited more than eight hours and 11.1 per cent waited more than 12 hours.\n<\/p>\n
\n Responding to the figures, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton said A&E waiting times remained among the worst ever recorded.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cDespite all the spin from the SNP<\/a>, we are still seeing some of the worst waiting times at A&E of all time. When the SNP came to power, half-day waits were a rarity – they\u2019re now happening to thousands of people every single week.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Cole-Hamilton said delayed discharges were contributing to overcrowding in emergency departments, citing cases where patients remain in hospital long after being deemed fit for discharge due to the lack of social care packages.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cA&E departments are backed up because there are so many people stuck in hospital and unable to leave because the care package they need is not available,\u201d he said. \u201cYou cannot fix the NHS and bring down A&E waits without fixing social care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Scottish Labour<\/a> health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said the A&E figures showed a system under severe strain.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cAfter years of warm words from the SNP, the number of people facing dangerously long waits in A&E is close to record levels.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cChaos is running rampant in our hospitals despite the tireless efforts of fantastic NHS staff, but the SNP has no answers.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cPatients\u2019 lives are being put at risk by the dangerous incompetence of this SNP government.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThe SNP has had its chance and it has failed \u2013 but Scottish Labour will step up and protect our NHS so Scots can get the urgent care they need.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n Commenting on the complaints figures, Ms Baillie said: \u201cThese figures are a damning reflection of the SNP\u2019s mismanagement of our NHS.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cServices and staff are at breaking point due to a woeful lack of leadership from this SNP government, and patients are paying the price.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThe SNP cannot be trusted with our NHS \u2013 but Scottish Labour is ready to step up and make our NHS fit for the future so patients get the standard of care they deserve.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n The Scottish Conservatives<\/a> said the figures showed the NHS was in \u201cmeltdown\u201d.\n<\/p>\n \n Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Sandesh Gulhane said: \u201cThese atrocious figures show an NHS in meltdown after nearly two decades of SNP mismanagement.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cJohn Swinney<\/a> is living on a different planet if he thinks Scotland\u2019s health service is on the mend, when the number of Scots waiting over 12 hours for treatment in our A&E departments is double the average for last year.”\n<\/p>\n \n On the increase of NHS complaints, Dr Gulhane said this was\u00a0“further\u00a0proof” that the NHS is “in crisis mode under the SNP”.\n<\/p>\n \n He added: \u201cMy frontline colleagues are working tirelessly to support their patients, but nationalist ministers have left them dangerous under-resourced and overstretched.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cThis is resulting in tragic but unavoidable mistakes. Staff are not miracle workers\u00a0and need to stop being asked to do their jobs without the resources required.\n<\/p>\n