A&E waiting times improve

Staff at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital have improved their A&E waiting times.

According to the latest figures by the NHS Information Services Division Scotland, of the 1,198 patients who attended A&E at the RAH in the week ending July 2, 92 per cent of them were seen, admitted or discharged within four hours.

The previous week, 89.6 per cent were seen within four hours but this appears to be a blip as the figures from the previous two weeks in June were 92 per cent and 90 per cent.

Across the whole of Scotland, more than 95 per cent of patients were seen within four hours in the week up to July 2.

Health secretary Shona Robison said: “I’d like to thank all the health and social care staff who have contributed to the good performance seen in Accident and Emergency departments over this week.

“Scotland has had the best performing emergency departments in the UK for more than two years.

“This has only been possible thanks to the hard work of NHS and social care workers.

“We are seeing progress across Scotland.

“It is encouraging that these latest weekly statistics show performance above the four hour standard.”

She added:“However, we know that the challenge is to ensure that we maintain this target on a consistent basis, as performance can fluctuate from week to week.

“That is why we are continuing to work closely with boards to take action to minimise long waits and improve patient flow through hospitals and into community care.

“This has been backed by an additional £9 million of investment to help fund this work and I am confident that it will lead to sustained improvements.”