WAITING times for the A&E department in the Borders have been branded “unacceptable”.

Figures show that 65 per cent of A&E visitors were admitted to hospital, transferred or discharged within four hours during the week ending September 12.

That percentage is significantly lower than the 95 per cent Scottish Government target and puts NHS Borders as the second worst performing health board in Scotland.

The emergency department at the BGH is “exceptionally busy”, with the possibility of those attending even being asked to wait in the car, says an NHS Borders spokesperson.

Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, said: “The Borders remains in the grip of an A&E crisis, and far too many patients are waiting hours on end to be seen upon arriving at an A&E department. It is simply unacceptable.

“People should not be put off attending A&E in a genuine emergency, but there should also be sufficient GP appointments to cope with demand.”

The Conservative member added: “The SNP have completely failed to get on top of this situation and waiting times in NHS Borders have spiralled as a result.”

A total of 606 people attended A&E in the Borders during the week, according to the figures.

On the four-hour target, only NHS Forth Valley (53.4 per cent) recorded a worse rate than the Borders.

The average across NHS health boards in Scotland was 71.5 per cent during the week ending September 12.

Conservative MP John Lamont described the latest figures as “eye-watering”.

“More than 10 per cent of people attending the BGH A&E last week waited more than 12 hours to be seen, which is staggering to say the least,” said the Westminster representative for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk.

“The four-hour waiting target is being missed by some distance and is one of the worst performances in Scotland, sitting only behind Forth Valley.

“The whole NHS is under huge pressure right now, from our GPs to the ambulance service.

“From what I hear from local people, many NHS workers are still testing positive which is contributing to this pressure.

“The SNP need to get a grip of this crisis and start supporting local health boards to tackle this situation before the system is completely overwhelmed.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government 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 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.

“We are in daily contact with every board and are monitoring the situation closely.

“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 and avoid unnecessary hospital attendance.

“Weekly performance is impacted due to a range of challenges including high attendances, staffing pressures due to isolation and annual leave and the continued requirement for infection control precautions that is affecting the time people need to spend in A&E.

“This is combined with increased levels of people attending A&E who are much sicker and require higher levels of care

“To minimise pressures, we have committed £12 million in additional funding to health boards across Scotland to support non-COVID emergency care.

“The boards are recruiting additional staff with this funding and we expect to see an impact of our rapid action shortly.

“Boosting staffing levels will help put measures in place to reduce waiting times for urgent or emergency treatment and increase available beds. We have also provided £80 million to boards in this financial year to support their elective activity and specifically target the backlog of care including appointments, diagnostic testing and surgery, as part of the broader mobilisation of our NHS.

“We are working closely with those sites facing the greatest challenges to ensure rapid recovery plans are in place and are in contact daily.

“To support improvements in emergency and urgent care waiting times we are working with health boards and their partners through our Unscheduled Care Improvement Programme to improve flow through the hospital by ensuring effective processes are in place to reduce the length of time people need to spend in hospital and ensure they are discharged as soon as they are medically fit.”