East Kilbride News

WORST WAITING TIMES AT A&E

Critical care unit at capacity Worst A&E waiting times Health boss says: ‘We’re sorry’

- Nicola Findlay

Hairmyres‘at its limit’say bosses

Health chiefs have admitted University Hospital Hairmyres is at its limit as figures revealed A&E department waiting times were the worst in Scotland for the first week of this year.

Four in 10 people waited longer than the four-hour Scottish Government target time at the East Kilbride facility for the week ending Sunday, January 7.

And the health board told the News its critical care unit is running at full capacity which is stretching A&E to breaking point.

Statistics showed that 62.4 per cent of patients were seen within four hours – well below the Scottish Government target of 95 per cent and the NHS Lanarkshir­e average of 74.9 per cent for the same week.

It was also a drop from 72.4 per cent for the previous week.

Alarmingly, a total of 133 patients waited more than eight hours and 66 had to sit for 12 hours.

Tory Central Scotland list MSP Graham Simpson dubbed the figures “a national disgrace” while Labour’s Monica Lennon says NHS Lanarkshir­e are poor performers when it comes to delayed discharges.

East Kilbride SNP MSP Linda Fabiani admitted these were “difficult times” across the country.

Bosses at Hairmyres have apologised to patients for the long delays and have said staff are doing all they can to ensure patients are seen as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, at NHS Lanarkshir­e’s other two acute hospitals in Wishaw and Monklands in Airdrie, 84 per cent and 77.4 per cent of patients, respective­ly, were seen within four hours in the week ending January 7.

In stark contrast to Hairmyres, 25 patients at Monklands and 35 at Wishaw waited over eight hours while just three waited more than 12 hours at the Airdrie site and seven at Wishaw.

Joanne Edwards, University Hospital Hairmyres director of hospital services, has admitted seriously-ill patients are having to be transferre­d to NHS Lanarkshir­e’s other two sites.

She said: “We have seen a significan­t increase in the number of seriously-ill patients being admitted to hospital and our critical care unit has been running at full capacity.

“Unfortunat­ely this has impacted on our A&E waiting times and we are sorry that some patients have experience­d long waits as a result.

“All of our staff have worked extremely hard to ensure patients are seen and treated as quickly and possible during this period of exceptiona­l demand.

“When we experience an exceptiona­lly high rate of emergency admissions, we work as a clinical network to divert GP pre-assessed patients directly to another NHS Lanarkshir­e hospital where clinically appropriat­ely to do so.

“We would advise anyone who is feeling unwell to visit NHS inform for advice on selfcare in the first instance. Please do not attend A&E unless you have been advised to do so.”

Mr Simpson hit out after assessing the numbers.

He said: “It is unfortunat­e for patients across Lanarkshir­e that our A&E department­s were one of the poorest performing across Scotland. “It is especially concerning that Hairmyres left over 37 per cent of patients waiting beyond the four-hour target to be treated. “To be the worst performing A&E department in Scotland is alarming. “We need to examine why this region is not receiving the support it needs from the Scottish Government – and the SNP has questions to answer. “It is not good enough for residents of East Kilbride to wonder if they should go to their local hospital in an emergency. We need to support the staff at Hairmyres and ensure these waiting times are not a national disgrace anymore.” Ms Lennon said: “NHS Lanarkshir­e has been one of the worst affected health boards in Scotland during the recent hospital waiting times crisis. Chronic underinves­tment in our public services means NHS staff are expected to do more with less and services are less equipped to cope with winter pressures.

“Lanarkshir­e was also one of the worst health boards in Scotland when it comes to delayed discharges in the latest figures, with over 6000 bed days lost to patients who are otherwise fit to go home but are being kept in hospital because of a lack of social care provision.”

But Ms Fabiani said it is inappropri­ate to compare NHS Lanarkshir­e’s three acute hospitals.

She said: “The medical director at NHS Lanarkshir­e stated clearly that recent pressures cannot be described as crisis; current circumstan­ces are not a result of lack of resources.

“These are difficult times right across the country, with an unpreceden­ted rise in flu and other respirator­y illnesses affecting more elderly people. Staff have been doing a fantastic job and deserve our full support for their hard work, especially over the past few weeks.

“It’s not appropriat­e to compare Hairmyres’ performanc­e with other A&E units. A range of factors must be considered, such as the different catchment area and the rise in older patients who may require longer in hospital.”

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 ??  ?? Winter workload University Hospital Hairmyres
Winter workload University Hospital Hairmyres
 ??  ?? Crisis period Monica Lennon MSP
Crisis period Monica Lennon MSP
 ??  ?? National disgrace Graham Simpson MSP
National disgrace Graham Simpson MSP
 ??  ?? Difficult times MSP Linda Fabiani
Difficult times MSP Linda Fabiani

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