Glasgow's super hospital has returned the worst A&E waiting times on record with just over a third of patients seen within the government's four-hour target.
Figures from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show waiting times across the country hit a record low again for admission, transfer or discharge - with just 63.1 per cent seen in the target time during the week ending November 20.
The flagship Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow recorded the worst ever waiting times for any hospital in Scotland.
The number of people attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments fell slightly to 25,465, a fall of 815 from the week ending November 13.
The Scottish Government's target aims to admit, transfer or discharge 95 per cent of patients within four hours.
Heath Secretary Humza Yousaf, who is facing calls to resign over his handling of the health service, has warned that the NHS is facing its most difficult winter to date. Some 3,013 patients spent more than eight hours in A&E last week, while 1,062 waited more than 12 hours.
Responding to the figures, Yousaf said: "Covid continues to impact the performance of services and pandemic backlogs, Brexit-driven staff shortages, and inflation costs have all contributed to make this winter the most challenging the NHS has ever faced.
"Despite this, I am clear that A&E performance is not where it needs to be. Delayed discharge continues to be the single biggest factor driving up A&E waits and we are working hard to ensure people are leaving hospital without delay, freeing up vital beds for those who need them most.
"A key focus of our winter plan is on social care and actions to encourage authorities to help ease delays. Our £600 million winter plan will see us recruit 1,000 new NHS staff and our £50 million urgent and unscheduled care collaborative looks to drive down A&E waits through scheduled urgent appointments, hospital at home and directing people to the most appropriate care."
Scottish Labour Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said the situation is getting worse in A&E.
She added: "These figures paint a grim picture of the continual crisis that is facing patients and staff in A&Es across our country.
“Clearly, things aren’t improving despite repeated promises from the SNP that they will get a handle on this chaos. Staff are doing all they can but they and their patients are being failed by this Health Secretary. The abysmal figures reported from the QEUH show the intense pressure facing our hospitals, and things are only getting worse.
"We must urgently improve these figures before Humza Yousaf’s disastrous stewardship puts any more lives on the line.”
Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has called for a change of approach.
He said: "While SNP and Green ministers fixate on breaking up the UK, emergency care is in crisis. You only need to look at how far things have fallen at the QEUH super hospital in Glasgow to see the harm being caused by ministerial disinterest.
"Staff are already overwhelmed. That’s before the full impact of what everyone is now resigned to being the hardest ever winter. They can’t carry on like this and desperately need new hope.
"Despite everything, Humza Yousaf has opposed and voted down Liberal Democrat calls for a burnout prevention strategy, a staff assembly that values their expertise and an urgent inquiry into the avoidable deaths linked to the crisis in emergency care.
“The Health Secretary must fundamentally change his approach, otherwise he will need to go because patients and staff have been taken for granted for far too long.”
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