By Ross Collie

Waiting times in accident and emergency wards in Forth Valley Hospital are still lagging far behind the rest of Scotland.

The hospital, located in Larbert, has suffered with dismal waiting time records, hitting a record low for Scotland in October.

It has also had the worst records in Scotland throughout most of 2022, consistently placing at the bottom of the table since July.

On the week beginning October 23, Forth Valley A&E only managed to treat 38 per cent of patients within four hours, well below the Scottish Government’s 95 per cent target.

The subsequent week saw a slight improvement, with 43 per cent of patients being treated within 4 hours. This coincided with a decrease in attendance.

Across Scotland, many health boards have been struggling to meet the government’s target. Of all health boards which provided statistics for the week beginning October 30, only the Western Isles surpassed the target.

In a statement to the Falkirk Herald, a spokesperson for the health board claimed that “significant staffing pressures”, along with an increased demand for care at home was contributing to the hospital’s struggles.

Continuing, the spokesperson said: “We have also seen high numbers of seriously ill patients who require to be admitted to hospital as well as many patients who are experiencing delays in being discharged from hospital because they require a package of care to be put in place or are waiting for a place in a local care home.

“As a result some patients have had to wait for longer periods of time in the emergency department until an inpatient bed becomes available.”

Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, has faced calls from other parties to fix the crisis in the NHS or resign.

Since Yousaf took office in May last year, waiting times records have continued to deteriorate.

In a statement to the Scottish Sun, the Scottish Conservative’s shadow health secretary, Sandesh Gulhane said: “Humza Yousaf’s stint as health secretary has been record-breaking for all the wrong reasons.

“A&E waiting times have broken new records almost once a week on average since he came to office. That’s a shameful statistic.

“If the Health Secretary won’t do the decent thing and resign, it’s time for him to be sacked.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie tweeted: “Health services are crumbling and staff are on their knees.

“[Humza Yousaf] continues to break records for the worst A&E waits, whilst fewer people are being treated. He must go.”

Holyrood’s Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said in a statement: “If Humza Yousaf thinks our NHS is performing well; he is living in fantasy land.

“Since his NHS recovery plan was launched, virtually every measure of performance has got worse.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stuck by her health secretary despite loudening calls to sack him.

Speaking to STV, she said: “I have absolute confidence in my health secretary. Anybody who believes that the pressures our [NHS] is under right now is down to who the health secretary is, frankly doesn’t understand the nature of those pressures.