HUMZA Yousaf has been urged to "wake up" to the A&E crisis as new figures showed a record number of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be seen.

Opposition parties said A&E departments are in "complete crisis" and insisted the Health Secretary should make fixing this a "personal priority". 

Just 71.3 per cent of people were seen within the four-hour target in the week ending October 10, the same record low as the last week of September.

Of this, some 1,871 spent more than eight hours waiting and 612 waited longer than 12 hours - the highest number since current records began.

Only 41% of patients were seen within four hours in NHS Forth Valley.

The target is for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. It has not been met nationally since July 2020.

The figures come as NHS Grampian became the third health board to seek military assistance to help cope with the current pressures.

Nurses, medics, drivers and general troops from the military are already being deployed to support NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Borders.

Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “Week after week we are presented with the cold, hard fact that A&E services are being overwhelmed.

“We have been calling on the Government to act for months, but instead they have dragged their heels and failed to support staff.

“With the army being called in to support several health boards, the Health Secretary cannot continue to pretend everything is rosy.

“Thousands of Scots are waiting several hours in pain for treatment. And health boards, like Forth Valley, are recording the worst statistics on record.

“Things have to change now, or else we face a winter of chaos.” 

Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane, an NHS GP, said Scotland's A&E departments "are in complete crisis and have been for far too long on Humza Yousaf’s watch". 

He added: "More and more health boards are having to call on support from our UK armed forces due to his continued inaction.

“The support from the British Army is hugely welcome. 

"However, Humza Yousaf seems more interested in getting photo ops rather than urgently outlining how he will maximise that support at every turn to support overwhelmed staff."

Mr Gulhane continued: “Humza Yousaf’s lack of leadership is having a devastating impact on frontline staff and patients urgently seeking treatment. 

"If he doesn’t get a grip now, he will potentially preside over the worst winter ever in our NHS.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Patients are in pain and are waiting too long. Staff are overstretched and under resourced. 

"Those facts are now hallmarks of life in Scotland’s 14 years with the SNP in government.

“This crisis has escalated to levels that would have been unimaginable just months ago. 

"These waiting times are not sustainable, and staff cannot and should not be expected to work through another six months of this.

“The pressure, stress and anxiety are off the scale, because people are not receiving the timely treatment they should be able to expect. 

"In the worst cases, the under resourcing may well lead to unnecessary deaths. 

"That’s why we need to see an independent review.

“Fixing this workforce crisis should be a personal priority for the Health Secretary. NHS staff deserve nothing less.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Covid pandemic has inevitably affected A&E attendance and the pressure is being felt across the UK.

"Scotland’s core A&E departments have continue to outperform those in the rest of the UK for more than six years.

"Our NHS staff have faced unprecedented pressures over recent weeks as they work tirelessly and consistently to respond to the pandemic whilst continuing to provide vital treatment and optimal patient care.

"As part of the NHS Recovery Plan we have committed £27 million towards the redesign of urgent care to ensure people receive the right care, at the right place.  

"To minimise pressures as much as possible this winter, we’ve recently announced £300 million of measures to help increase NHS and social care capacity in our hospitals and reduce delayed discharges. 

"In the meantime we will continue to work closely with those sites facing the greatest challenges to ensure rapid recovery plans are in place and are in contact daily."