A PATIENT'S reported 49-hour wait at the emergency department of a Borders hospital is "damning" for the Scottish Government, says a Tory MP.

But while accepting that the NHS was facing "significant challenges", First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the SNP was supporting the health service with "record funding".

NHS Borders said the patient concerned had been seen, investigations and treatment started and was booked for admission within two hours.

They were cared for within the A&E department of Borders General Hospital until a bed became available some 45 hours later, according to a spokesperson for the health board.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross raised the incident during an exchange with Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday (February 23).

Borders MP John Lamont, of the Conservatives, said the incident was “totally unacceptable”.

The representative for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk said: “This shocking incident must be investigated urgently by the SNP government.

“It is totally unacceptable for people in the Borders seeking emergency treatment to be let down in this manner.

“Our NHS staff do fantastic work, but they are not helped by the SNP. This 49-hour wait is damning for the government.”

Peeblesshire News: MSP Rachael Hamilton and MP John Lamont MSP Rachael Hamilton and MP John Lamont

Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton – who represents Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire – branded the wait “unbelievable”.

She said: “I have serious concerns about why any patient in the Borders was forced to wait 49 hours for emergency treatment.

“Humza Yousaf has let the NHS crisis spiral out of control.

“It is frankly unbelievable that people in the Borders and across Scotland need to wait several days at A&E.”

Responding to the issue on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon said: “In relation to individual cases it is always unacceptable if someone waits too long for treatment in the National Health Service.”

She said the challenges being faced were “more significant than at any point in history of the NHS”.

But the First Minister said: “We are supporting our NHS with record funding, record staffing and the wider support it needs to address these challenges.”

She added that Mr Yousaf was “the only health secretary anywhere in the UK that has managed to avoid a single day of strikes in the National Health Service over this period”.

On the wait, the NHS Borders spokesperson said: "The longest wait recorded in the Borders General Hospital A&E department in the week ending January 1, 2023, was 47 hours and 16 minutes.

"The patient was seen, investigations and treatment started and was booked for admission within two hours.

"A bed was not available for a further 45 hours and the patient was cared for on a bed in our A&E for the duration their extended delay.”