Patients arriving at accident and emergency departments will be sent away if more appropriate treatment is available elsewhere in a bid to reverse record-long waits for treatment.
Humza Yousaf has issued guidance for A&E departments across Scotland that would see them refer patients to GPs, pharmacies or told to look after themselves.
It follows another week where A&E waiting time performances have fallen to record low levels, with 30.4 per cent of patients not seen within the four-hour target.
Despite patient numbers being significantly lower than before the pandemic – September 2021 saw 19,417 fewer patients attend A&E compared to September 2019 – the percentage of patients seen within the target time has plummeted over the past year.
The new guidance is based on a redirection policy that NHS Tayside has had in place for the last 23 years.
Yousaf said: “It is widely recognised that more people could be better seen away from hospital and closer to home by a more appropriate care provider such as a pharmacy or GP practice or, indeed, managed with self-care guidance.”
But opposition MSPs last night said the new advice could see seriously ill people turned away from hospitals.
Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The Health Secretary is detached from reality if he thinks the biggest problem here is crowds of people desperate to spend 12 hours sitting in A&E for no reason.
“We need a real plan to support health boards instead of this reckless advice.”
●Scotland has a record shortfall in nurses required to staff the NHS, says the Royal College of Nursing.
Analysis by the union found that by last June the gap had grown to 3438, or 7.4 per cent, from 1613, or 3.3 per cent, in June 2015.
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