There must be promises horrific A&E waiting times will be a thing of the past

Terminally ill pensioner Peter Black became the latest victim of the hospital waiting times crisis when he sat in A&E for 15 hours through the night. ‌

Yesterday, First Minister John Swinney said sorry to the grandad-of-five in the Scottish Parliament as he faced intense questioning from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar over the state of NHS waiting times. ‌

Swinney says our A&E performance in Scotland is “stronger than the rest of the UK”. ‌

But Peter’s diabolical experience , and those of countless others who have shared stories of crammed and overstretched emergency departments, paints a different picture.

The 71-year-old was taken to Wishaw General with alarming symptoms and was only seen the next morning when a relative emailed the health board’s chief executive.