Scottish A&E doctor warns NHS is already delivering unsafe care before winter

A senior emergency doctor has warned she is “completely terrified” about the pressure Scotland’s NHS could face this winter, with some patients already spending as long as 72 hours on trolleys.

Dr Fiona Hunter, vice-chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said overcrowded A&E departments were delivering unsafe levels of care before the busiest winter months had begun.

She described a “toxic normalisation” of treating patients in hospital corridors and warned that prolonged waits could contribute to avoidable deaths. Corridor care can also compromise privacy, dignity and infection control while placing additional strain on exhausted staff.

Scottish Health Secretary Angela Constance acknowledged that the coming winter would be difficult and said treating patients in corridors was unacceptable. She has committed to improving how the practice is defined, measured and reported after concerns that Scotland does not currently maintain consistent national figures.

The Scottish Government’s winter plan includes expanding Hospital at Home services, strengthening community-based care and encouraging people to use the most appropriate health service. More than 10,000 patients are expected to benefit from the expanded home-treatment programme.

However, medical and nursing organisations have warned that pressures cannot be resolved without addressing shortages of beds and staff, delayed hospital discharges and limited social care capacity. Dr Hunter said emergency departments were already “stacked” with patients and ambulances, leaving clinicians deeply concerned about what will happen when flu and other seasonal illnesses increase demand.

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