A&E waiting times on the up

Waiting times at University Hospital Hairmyres A&E department fell below the NHS Lanarkshire average for the second week in a row.

Statistics for waiting times at A&Es across Scotland show for the week ending Sunday, April 22, a total of 84.6 per cent of patients were admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.

The Scottish Government target is 95 per cent within four hours.

During the same period, NHS Lanarkshire saw 88.8 per cent within four hours while the NHS Scotland average was 87.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie, 94.8 per cent of patients were seen within four hours but at the health board’s other acute site – University Hospital Wishaw – 82.6 per cent of patients were seen within the four-hour time slot.

Latest figures show that three patients waited more than eight hours at Hairmyres with 13 having to wait over 12 hours.

The number of patients seen within four hours saw a slight drop from the previous week, ending Sunday, April 15.

At Hairmyres, 86.4 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.

That compares to an NHS Lanarkshire average of 88.8 per cent for the same period and an NHS Scotland average of 87.4 per cent.

At East Kilbride’s A&E, 10 patients waited over eight hours while six waited more than 12 hours.