Senior emergency consultants at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital wrote Healthcare Improvement Scotland in July to warn that delays in care were putting patients at risk, BBC reports¹.

The letter, as described by BBC, said the emergency department had deteriorated since a 2024 review that was published a year later, a report that had found poor relations between managers and consultants were likely to have hurt patient care¹.

Consultants said staff were being forced to step patients down from resuscitation areas and move people into corridors to deal with sustained overcapacity, and that there was no effective strategy to fix the problems¹.

They also said evidence now clearly linked overcrowding in accident and emergency areas to higher death rates, according to BBC¹.

A Healthcare Improvement Scotland spokesperson said the agency continued to take the concerns raised by staff in the QEUH emergency department seriously¹.

HIS said it would meet frontline staff and review progress against recommendations from its previous review during November, had told Scottish government colleagues about the concerns, and that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde must implement the required changes¹.

The agency said it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific correspondence or to pre-empt further findings from follow-up work¹.

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Adam Harley MSP said the letter was "chilling" and that ministers needed to intervene at QEUH¹.

BBC said the health board and the Scottish government had been approached for comment¹.

Not medical advice.

Sources

1. BBCSenior doctors at Glasgow hospital in care delay warning7:53 AM

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