Six months’ woe on goals missed
Wishaw General Hospital can’t meet target times
Wishaw General Hospital has gone six months without hitting the government’s targeted waiting times.
Health boards across Scotland must tend to 95 per cent of accident and emergency patients within four hours, however only 89.2 per cent of people were attended to in that time, latest figures show.
The last time Wishaw General met the target was for the week ending April 17 when 95.6 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.
It has been a tough six months for the under-fire hospital who have struggled to meet the target consistently since the figures started back in February 2015.
Now Conservative MSP Graham Simpson has blasted the SNP for their failure to properly support the NHS.
The Central Scotland MSP said: “While Nicola Sturgeon is whipping up the party faithful on independence, public services - run by the SNP - are failing. It’s deeply disappointing that waiting time targets are missed again.
“The SNP need to get on with the day job but it is increasingly obvious that they aren’t up to it.”
Motherwell and Wishaw MSP Clare Adamson said: “Although waiting times will fluctuate, we should be grateful to staff in our NHS who work so hard to deliver the highest standards of care.
“We will always strive to assist further improvement in performance against key targets, and I am pleased that NHS Lanarkshire will receive an additional £869,710 injection of funding from the Scottish Government.
“To r i e s l i k e G raham Simpson display the worst sort of hypocrisy and lack of selfawareness when they criticise the SNP on delivering quality local healthcare – when the Conservative- run NHS in England lags so far behind Scotland on A&E waiting times.”
Marion Mark, Director of Hospital Services at Wishaw General Hospital, said: “We have seen an overall improvement in our unscheduled care performance compared with last year. Our clinical and managerial staff will continue to work together to enhance our performance and to reduce waiting times for our patients.
“The public can help us by ensuring they go to the most appropriate healthcare professional. There is a wide range of services available that can provide treatment without the need to visit A&E.”