Thousands waiting more than 12 hours in A&E

WALES Thousands of patients in Wales have waited more than 12 hours for A&E treatment. More than 3,800 patients across six of Wales’s health boards waited for longer than 12 hours in A&E departments in September. Almost half those patients, a total of 1,817, were in A&E departments run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales. By contrast, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board, which covers services in Swansea, Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot, had 588 patients waiting longer than 12 hours, while Aneurin Bevan Health Board, which covers Newport, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly, had 450. Cwm Taf Health Board, which serves Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf, had 270 patients in A&E waiting for longer than 12 hours, while Hywel Dda Health Board, which covers Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, had 663. Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, which has the University Hospital of Wales, the biggest in the country, among its services, had just 17 A&E patients waiting longer than 12 hours in September, and its emergency departments saw 90.3% of patients within four hours. Betsi Cadwaladr Board, which saw 69.6% of its A&E patients within four hours in September, said it is working to improve performance.