Hospital handover times rise

Ambulance handover times have more than doubled at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Patients have been forced to wait an average of 27.90 minutes to be transferred onto a ward – up from 13.91 minutes a decade ago.

The hike is among the highest in the country, with the time spent languishing outside also among the greatest in Scotland.

John Marr, secretary of the GMB union’s Scottish Ambulance branch, says a lack of staff, centralisation of services and a surge in those dialling 999 for nonemergencies is to blame.

He said: “The workload at A&E has increased tenfold but there is the same amount of staff. It is getting to breaking point. It takes about 15 minutes to do a proper handover of a patient and if there are 10 patients arriving every hour it soon backs up.”

The longest average turnaround time last year was at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where it took 36.14 minutes.

The Scottish Ambulance ser vices says it does “recognise” there are “pressures on hospitals during peak periods” and insists it is working hard to cut waiting times.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “Scotland’s core A& Es have been the best performing in the UK for more than two years and we have already increased staffing and invested record amounts into our hospitals to achieve long- term, sustainable improvements.

“Howe v e r, we are determined to continue to improve the flow of patients who arrive at A&E.”