Waiting times at region’s A&Es the worst in Wales
Published date: 21 September 2016 |
Published by: Owen Evans Read more articles by Owen Evans Email reporter
PATIENTS in the region’s hospitals were once again victim to some of the longest periods spent in emergency departments.
Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan recorded the worst figures in Wales for the time patients spent in A&E, while Wrexham Maelor recorded the third worst.
According to figures released by the Welsh Government yesterday, a total of 472 patients at Glan Clwyd and 246 at Wrexham Maelor spent more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.
Nigel Lee, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s secondary care director, said: “All of our staff are working extremely hard to ensure patients who visit our emergency departments are cared for as quickly as possible, and we have continued to see significant demand over the summer months.
“It’s important to note that patients who visit the emergency department are assessed quickly, and those in need of urgent and emergency care are prioritised so they receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.
“This does mean that patients who don’t require urgent hospital-level care sometimes have to wait for longer than we would wish.”
Wrexham Maelor has seen an improvement in the level of people dealt with in four hours compared with previous months, while figures for Glan Clwyd have got slightly worse.
Mr Lee added: “We would always encourage people to consider whether other services, such as their GP, minor injuries services, high street pharmacist or advice from NHS Direct, may give them quicker access to the advice and treatment they need.
“We are working closely with hospital and community teams as well as with our partners in the Welsh Ambulance Service and Local Authorities, on ways to improve the flow of patients into and out of hospital to any ongoing health and social care they may require.
“It is encouraging to see there have been some improvements in the east and we continue with a comprehensive programme of improvement across all sites.”
The figures do not record waiting times in departments, rather how long in total patients have spent there.
The figures revealed 8.8 per cent of patients had to spend more than half a day in Glan Clwyd Hospital’s emergency department, while Wrexham Maelor recorded a figure of 4.6 per cent.
At Glan Clwyd, 65.2 per cent of patients were there for less than four hours, the worst result in Wales, while in Wrexham a total of 73 per cent were there for less than four hours.
see-http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/166958/waiting-times-at-region-s-a-es-the-worst-in-wales.aspx
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