A&E patients wait 10 hours for treatment as virus surge affects hospitals

HOSPITALS in Lanarkshire are “working beyond maximum capacity”, the health board has said, with many patients waiting more than 10 hours to be seen in accident and emergency.

Bosses at NHS Lanarkshire have now urged people to consider alternatives to A&E and to expect long waits as pressure on its three acute sites, at Wishaw, Monklands in Airdrie and Hairmyres in East Kilbride, continues to mount.

Russell Coulthard, deputy director of acute services, said “our three acute sites are full”, with resurging coronavirus infections straining the health board.

“Covid-19 numbers are on the rise, with 194 Covid patients across the three acute sites. To put that in perspective, numbers had fallen to 66 in the middle of last month but have been increasing ever since and show no sign of levelling off or decreasing,” he said.

“The knock-on effect is we have staff absences due to Covid and we continue to face significant staffing challenges across health services and our staff are struggling to cope.

“We also have wards closed across our sites due to Covid, which again reduces beds available to patients and creates further additional pressures while we are trying to recover services and treat patients who need our care.

“These combined pressures mean we have had to take some difficult decisions. These include reintroducing essential visiting.

“The safety of our patients and staff is our top priority and we are taking all necessary action to ensure safe and effective patient care and address the current pressures. We are making the best use of the staff and beds that are available to enable us to treat patients appropriately.”

The 10-hour wait faced by some patients in emergency departments across Lanarkshire is well in excess of the Scottish Government’s four-hour target.

Dr Calvin Lightbody, A&E consultant at University Hospital Hairmyres, is urging people in Lanarkshire to access the right care they need in an attempt to keep emergency departments free for those with emergency care needs.

He said: “We are seeing exceptionally high numbers of people attending our three emergency departments.”