Scottish Government plan to combat A&E waiting times under threat in Scotland's biggest city

dailyrecord.co.uk:

THE Scottish Government’s flagship policy to tackle chronic A & E waiting times may be axed by the country’s largest city next week.And the abandonment of Hospital at Home in the city will add at least 15 patients to hospital inpatient departments and do nothing to ease congestion at the country’s biggest hospitals, Glasgow’s QEUH.The latest figures show just a fraction over half of all patients arriving at A & E there are seen within the four-hour-target - way below the latest Scottish average of 67.4% and even further below the 95% target.Successive Health Secretaries have looked to extending Hospital at Home services to ease congestion at hospital front doors and prevent ambulances queuing up outside for hours at a time.But now Glasgow’s Integrated Joint Board proposes to axe the service - designed to reduce hospital admissions for elderly patients by providing acute treatments such in the comfort and familiarity of their own home.Did you know you can keep up to date with the latest news by signing up to our daily newsletter?We send a morning and lunchtime newsletter covering the latest headlines every day.We also send coronavirus updates at 5pm on weekdays, and a round up of the week's must-read stories on Sunday afternoons.Signing up is simple, easy and free.You can pop your email address into the sign up box above, hit Subscribe and we'll do the rest.Alternatively, you can sign up and check out the rest of our newsletters here.In papers which were due to be discussed at the board meeting next week there is a clear plan to halt the service as part of a body of swingeing cuts and reductions in services which will save just under £14 million.There will also be staff cuts and reductions in service to first responder