Hospital delays to be discussed as A&E waits ‘often 12 hours’

COUNCILLORS are set to discuss concerns over delays at Wrexham Maelor Hospital after new figures show it had the worst-performing A&E in Wales last month.

Little over half (52.2%) of patients who attended the hospital’s emergency department in December were seen within the four-hour target.

The performance is ten percentage points down on the previous month’s figures.

Towards the end of last year a group of independent councillors in Flintshire put forward a motion demanding that the Welsh Government take action amid claims patients were being put at risk.

It came after they said 12-hour waits had become the norm at the Maelor.

In the notice, Cllr Helen Brown, from the Flintshire Independents group, said: “We call on Welsh Government to make Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board accountable in their care of patients and staff.

“After many years in so-called special measures, the crisis with the district hospitals remains a worry.

“A 12-hour wait at Wrexham Maelor

is not unusual, it’s the normal wait time. Staff are under growing pressure and have been heard to say they are fearful of the situation getting worse as the hospitals cannot cope. We feel people may be put at risk.”

The motion was submitted in October after the group’s deputy leader, Carol Ellis, described how her husband was forced to wait on a trolley for more than six hours at Wrexham’s A&E. Cllr Ellis said staff deserved more support and questioned whether Flintshire should have its own district hospital.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which has been in special measures since June 2015, has apologised for the long delays faced by patients in December.