It’s not just at Accident and Emergency wards where patients are left waiting so long they simply give up.
Shocking figures show that 340,000 calls to NHS 24 were abandoned before the caller was able to speak to an operator in the first nine months of this year. The phone service is supposed to ease pressure on struggling A&E wards by advising people with minor ailments how they can seek alternative treatments.
But that system collapses if patients never have their calls answered in the first place. Almost 120,000 of the dropped calls were during July, August and September – with one caller waiting almost three hours to get through before hanging up.
This took place at a time of year when demand on the NHS is traditionally at its lowest. How it will cope at the height of winter amid a flu and corona surge is a major concern.
It goes without saying this is simply not good enough. A new 24-hour call centre in Dundee in January was supposed to bring down waiting times for those relying on NHS 24.
It’s another frightening reminder of the intense pressure on our health service. Humza Yousaf used an interview yesterday to speak candidly about the winter period now facing the NHS.
He previously warned it could be the most difficult period in its history. And he spelled out it could take at least five years for the NHS to fully recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The problem is we simply can’t wait that long. Over-stretched health workers need solutions to be found a lot sooner than that. We could start by fixing NHS 24.
Sex fiend victims failed by sheriff
The sheriff who allowed a man convicted of multiple sex attacks to walk out of court on bail should ask himself some hard questions. Mirza Mohammad Saeed was granted bail ahead of his sentencing in December for attacking seven women in a series of incidents in Edinburgh.
The pervert is even being allowed to fly to Pakistan to attend the wedding of his daughter. This seems an extraordinary lapse of judgment by the court and shows it has completely disregarded the thoughts of victims.
Does the sheriff who granted him bail believe Saeed will not pose a threat to more women ahead of his sentencing? Would the sheriff be comfortable if Saeed moved to the same street as his family?
This man is a serial offender and should be behind bars.He should certainly not be allowed to leave the country. Saeed’s victims have been badly let down by this sheriff.
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