Health chiefs sorry for A&E wait times

HEALTH bosses have apologised after fewer than half of accident and emergency patients were seen within four hours.

Only 41 per cent of people attending NHS Forth Valley’s A&E departments were seen within that timescale during the first full week of October.

National figures for the same period show about 71 per cent of A&E patients in Scotland were seen within four hours – despite a government target of 95 per cent.

NHS Forth Valley has said staff are doing ‘everything possible’ to reduce delays. Public Health Scotland said 1,167 people attended A&E in Forth Valley in the week up to October 10.

A spokesman for the health board said that, along with other Scottish hospitals, it had been ‘exceptionally busy’ over the past few weeks.

They told BBC Scotland: ‘As a result, some patients may have to wait for longer periods of time in the emergency department until an inpatient bed becomes available. Staff are doing everything possible to reduce delays and we would like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who has experienced a longer wait to be seen at this very challenging time.’

The health board said patients with more serious illnesses are being prioritised. It said many patients will undergo further diagnostic tests and start treatment while waiting in the emergency department to be admitted to a ward.

Meanwhile, the most recent weekly figures from Public Health Scotland show of the 25,335 people who attended at A&E in Scotland 1,871 of them spent eight hours or more there.

The Scottish Government said the pandemic ‘has inevitably affected A&E attendance’.