Senior doctors at Glasgow hospital in care delay warning

Senior emergency doctors at Scotland's biggest hospital have written to the healthcare watchdog to warn of harm to patients from delays to care.

The consultants also warned of "uncontrollable system failure", in a letter sent to Healthcare Improvement Scotland (His) in July.

They said the situation in the emergency department at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow had deteriorated since their last review, which was undertaken in 2024 and published a year later.

That report found that poor relationships between managers and consultants was likely to have had a detrimental impact on patient care.

The July letter said staff were being forced to step down patients from resuscitation areas and move people into corridors to address "sustained overcapacity".

They added that there was no effective strategy to address the problems, and said evidence now clearly linked overcrowding in accident and emergency areas to higher death rates.

A spokesperson for Health Improvement Scotland said it continued to "take the concerns raised by staff in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Emergency Department seriously."

The statement added: "As part of our ongoing follow-up work, we will be meeting frontline staff and reviewing progress against the recommendations from our previous review during November. We have also made Scottish government colleagues aware of the ongoing concerns and pressures that have been raised with us.

"It is for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to implement the changes required and to address the issues identified. We expect the board to demonstrate progress in implementing the recommendations and responding to the concerns raised by staff.

"Given our ongoing review activity, it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on specific correspondence or to pre-empt our further findings from our follow up work."

The Scottish Liberal Democrats called on ministers to act on the letter.

Their health spokesman, Adam Harley MSP, said: "This letter is chilling. The Scottish government needs to wake up to the crisis at the QEUH and intervene.

"We cannot accept this constant crisis as the status quo.

"That patients who need resuscitation at one of our busiest hospitals cannot take their safety for granted shows an utter failure of accountability, and proves that our NHS is in dire need of rescue."

The health board and the Scottish government have been approached for comment.