12- hour wait to see A& E docs

More than 600 patients waited more than 12 hours to be seen in accident and emergency in Ayrshire and Arran since the beginning of the year.

And the Scottish Government has been asked how it will address the worrying figures.

In total 642 Ayrshire and Arran patients were forced to endure waits of more than 12 hours before being assessed by A& E staff.

In comparison, over the same period NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde only had 104 patients waiting longer than 12 hours, despite seeing three times more patients.

The statistics come from the Scottish Government’s information services division.

The national standard for A& E waiting times is that a patient should be seen, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Since the beginning of the year, though, this target has been broken 5952 times with 642 of those patients waiting longer than 12 hours.

MPS Colin Smyth said: “Across Ayrshire and Arran patients attending an A& E department are being left over 12 hours every week.

“It is understandable that there may be some extenuating circumstance why an A& E department fails to meet the fourhour target but in Ayrshire and Arran it seems it is now a matter of routine.

“Patient care cannot continue to be treated in this way, which is why I have demanded answers from the Scottish Government.

“The standards set by this government are not being met in the cabinet secretary for health’s own backyard in NHS Ayrshire and Arran and that must change.”

But health secretary Jeane Freeman, who is also MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, said: “Scotland’s core A& E departments continue to be the best performing in the UK and have been for more than four years.

“Almost nine out of 10 patients were seen and either admitted, discharged or transferred within the four- hour A& E target.

“However, we are not meeting the 95 per cent target and are working closely with those health boards experiencing the greatest challenges.

“We are committed to ensuring that health boards are supported in improving performance and we will continue to drive improvements through our £ 850 million waiting times improvement plan.”

The four- hour waiting time is not solely the time a person attending A& E waits to be seen by a member of staff. It applies from the time they arrive at the& E department until they are admitted, discharged or transferred.