The accident and emergency department at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has experienced a five-year high in complaints.
It comes after waiting times at the service reached record numbers over the past few months with ambulances forced to queue outside during busy periods.
Data obtained from a freedom of information request shows the number of complaints made against the department has reached the highest point since at least 2018.
The data looks at complaints during the time period from January to November.
In 2022, August and September were the months with the highest number of complaints in the year – recording 12 each.
The most common reason for complaints over the years was treatment, staff competence, and staff attitude and behaviour.
NHS Grampian has stressed the number of complaints is “incredibly low” when compared to the number of people attending.
Pressure building for months
At the beginning of October, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) had the longest emergency waiting times in Scotland.
Only 43.8% of patients were seen within a four-hour window. The Scottish Government’s target is 95%.
The Press and Journal has been tracking NHS waiting times across Scotland.
Exceptionally long waiting times to access treatment can have devastating consequences for patients.
However, signs that ARI’s accident and emergency department has been struggling have been clear to the public for months.
On September 26, they issued a warning of “extremely long waits”, and asked people to only attend if their condition was “life-threatening”.
On October 2, they released another statement asking people to only attend if facing “a suspected heart attack or stroke” or other serious conditions.
The most recent figures show ARI with the fourth longest waiting times out of Scotland’s 30 emergency departments.
What does Humza Yousaf say?
Health secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Pandemic backlogs, inflation costs and Brexit-related staff shortages have all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.
“In addition, we are seeing increases in winter viruses.
“Delayed discharge continues to have a major impact in driving up A&E waits and we are working with health boards to ensure people leave hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.”
The health secretary says his department’s £600 million winter plan will see the NHS recruit 1,000 new staff.
He also hopes his £50 million urgent and unscheduled care collaborative will target A&E waits through hospital at home and outpatient antimicrobial therapy services, which allows patients to be treated at home or in the community.
What does NHS Grampian say?
NHS Grampian says it has seen 280,000 attendances at ARI’s A&E department over the past five years, but the number of complaints that have been “fully upheld” is only 108.
They say the number of complaints per attendance at the department has “stayed around the same level” in each of the past five years.
Approximately, there is only one complaint per 1,000 attendances at A&E.
Portfolio lead for medicine and unscheduled care at NHS Grampian, Sandra MacLeod said: “While we apologise to those patients when we have got things wrong, these incredibly low levels show the standard of the service our incredible frontline staff provide.
‘Elastic is stretched as far as it can go’
The Scottish Conservative shadow public health minister Tess White said: “I know medics on the front line at NHS Grampian are trying their best in sometimes intolerable circumstances.
“For their part, the elastic is stretched as far as it can go. And patients are waiting longer and longer to be seen, even in emergencies.
“The only way that will change is for the SNP Government to properly resource our NHS.
“Humza Yousaf must deliver GPs, nurses and ambulance crews to give relief to colleagues who have been on the edge for too long.”
Jackie Baillie, the Scottish Labour deputy leader and health spokeswoman said: “NHS services across Scotland are under increasing pressure, with many A&E departments at breaking point.
“It’s clear that A&E services in Aberdeen are in disarray, despite the heroic efforts of staff.
“We simply cannot have Scots being put in danger due to the SNP’s incompetent running of our NHS.
“It’s time for Humza Yousaf to act to ensure more lives are not lost.”
It’s time for Humza Yousaf to act to ensure more lives are not lost.”
– Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “This seismic increase is yet another indictment of the pressure faced by NHS staff and patients.
“While the health secretary sits back and spins the figures week after week, patients and healthcare workers suffer.
“The root cause of these complaints is SNP mismanagement. Staff are crying out for support, but Nicola Sturgeon and her government are too busy taking a wrecking ball to our family of nations to listen.”
Conversation