4,000 patients caught up in delays at £1bn hospital

NEARLY 4,000 patients have waited more than four hours in A&E at Scotland’s flagship £1billion hospital since May.

Analysis by the Labour Party found 3,852 people have been waiting at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital f ar beyond the Scottish Government’s own four-hour target.

More than 200 have waited more than eight hours to be admitted, transferred or sent home. The figures come as special measures have been brought in for a second time at Scotland’s newest hospital.

Bosses were forced to apologise last week after it posted the worst casualty waiting times in the country, raising fears of chaos when A&E becomes inevitably busier during the winter months.

Jackie Baillie, Labour’s public services spokesman, said: ‘NHS staff in Scotland work incredibly hard to deliver the care that Scots need, but it is clear that even at the new flagship hospital things are going wrong.

‘It’s clear that the hospital hasn’t been getting t he l ong- t erm resources it needs from the SNP Government.

‘The hospital struggled to hit the SNP’s A&E waiting time target in the middle of summer and autumn – the problems at the hospital need to be fixed now before winter comes.’

The SNP is under pressure over its health record, having increased spending on the NHS by only 8 per cent in the past five years – well below England’s 12 per cent rise.

The Nationalists have f aced repeated criticism over its waiting times. In June, the Scottish Government was forced to send in its own team of managers to turn Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s A& E unit around after patients complained of being left in pain on trolleys for hours.

But despite an improvement over the summer, the hospital recorded 386 people waiting more than four hours in the week beginning October 4. The figure, which is the equivalent of 55 people a day, is its worst ever.

Last week, the hospital’s director, Anne Harkness, apologised to patients who faced the longest waits, promising to divert surgical and urological patients out of A&E and streamline its operation to tackle the delays.

Almost 1,700 patients a week are attending the hospital – and that number is likely to soar as winter approaches and illness related to the colder weather increases.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said the Scottish Government i s two months ahead on i ts winter planning compared to last year.

She added: ‘ NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is taking forward measures to improve A&E performance at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

‘Whilst they had made significant i mprovements since they first opened, performance of late has been too inconsistent and it is clear that improvements are needed to further increase capacity and drive down waiting times – patients rightly expect nothing less.’