By johnrobertson834,Professor John Robertson

Copyright talkingupscotlandtwo

Professor John Robertson OBA

From Public Health Scotland today, we see that 4.2% patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E.1

From NHS England, the equivalent figure was, once calculated from the raw data, 9.1%.2

Note that NHS Scotland performance is published by independent statisticians while NHS England ‘marks its own homework’ so to speak.

https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/healthcare-system/urgent-and-unscheduled-care/accident-and-emergency/main-points/all-ae-sites/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

This difference is longstanding as is the very different attitude of the RCEM with regard to the responsibility of the UK and Scottish governments for these data.

By stewartb in August 2025

There have now been two press statements issued during August by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) concerning A&E waits in Scotland. The headlines use extremely negative language, designed to alarm – ‘unacceptable and dangerous’, ‘ shocking and shameful’ and ‘dangerous’. These are in addition to a press statement in June – ‘deeply concerning and distressing’ in the headline, and one in July when new data on delayed discharge rather than the reported A&E waiting times in the statement was deemed presumably to provide a ‘better’ headline.

By contrast, I can find no RCEM press statement on NHS England’s A&E waits during June and July. When last commenting on A&E waits in NHS England – on its performance during May 2025 – the RCEM statement had this headline: ‘Slight improvements hard to celebrate when thousands of people are enduring extreme A&E waits’.

For perspective, on over 12 hour stays in A&E during July 2025:

NHS Scotland: 4.35% of attendances: NHS England: 8.9% of attendances.

The RCEM press statement on the above performance by NHS Scotland had this headline: ‘Number of people facing extreme waits in Scotland’s A&E ‘unacceptable and dangerous’ . The RCEM opted NOT to issue a press statement on these NHS England figures – even tho’ surely 8.9% is an awful lot worse than 4.35%!

Source: NHS England Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) – Data June 2025 and July 2025 (Provisional) Statistical Commentary

When the RCEM last commented on waits in NHS England’s A&E departments, data for May 2025, NHS England reported that 9.4% of attendances spent over 12 hours in an A&E department. Using the NHS Scotland figures in May quoted in an RCEM press statement – 125,779 attendances and 4,863 spending 12 hours or more – this equates to 3.9%. The RCEM statement notes: ‘Which is a slight improvement on the previous month.’ Rather than refer to this in its headline and opening paragraphs, the RCEM opted to focus on delayed discharges.

Despite reporting regularly on the waiting times performance of A&E departments in England (albeit, oddly, not recently), NI, Scotland and Wales – reports which have long revealed the substantially better performance on NHS Scotland. – the RCEM NEVER explicitly acknowledges this fact as far as I can tell.

Moreover, based on the nature of its press statements, there is a case to be made that its ‘tone’ is much more negative and indeed, alarmist when reporting on Scotland. And it is no surprise that the BBC and mainstream media that supposedly serve Scotland laps this up, all the time shunning any comparative assessment that would show NHS Scotland in a good light!