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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Michael Pringle

Just 70 per cent of patients seen in four hours at Lanarkshire's under pressure A&E units

Around three in 10 patients attending Lanarkshire's A&E departments are waiting longer than four hours to be seen.

Figures published by Public Health Scotland revealed NHS Lanarkshire has country's worst waiting time performance with three in 10 patients not seen in the four hour target time for the week ending July 4.

That means just 70.5 per cent of those attending were treated in time, with the government standard 95 per cent.

The standard expects patients should wait no longer than four hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer for A&E treatment.

Of the figures, Central Scotland MSP Gillian Mackay told Lanarkshire Live : “These figures clearly show the extreme pressure being placed on A&E services in NHS Lanarkshire.

"Health board officials have repeatedly warned that workforce pressures and rising COVID-19 cases are placing A&E departments under increasing strain as more and more people are attending for non-urgent reasons.”

With the exception of Greater Glasgow & Clyde, more people attended A&E departments in the NHS Lanarkshire area than any other health board in the country. A total of 4247 were seen for treatment during the seven-day period.

The latest four hours percentage figure for NHS Lanarkshire is the lowest during the pandemic and comes on the back of NHS Lanarkshire chief executive Hearther Knox lettering staff to thank them.

In that, she acknowledged the health board was facing challenges from rising numbers attending A&E, admitting it was under pressure.

NHS Lanarkshire Chief Executive Heather Knox (EKN)

None of mainland NHS boards hit that target and only two health boards managed it - NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland, with 97.9 and 97.1 per cent respectively.

Another islands board, NHS Western Isles, fell just short of the mark with 94.3 per cent of patients seen within four hours.

The average across the NHS boards in Scotland for the same week was 81.6 per cent.

Elected to the Scottish Parliament in May on the list vote, Gillian Mackay is the Scottish Greens health spokesperson.

She added: “I’ve previously raised the need for better communication from the Scottish Government about where patients should go if they need non-urgent care out of hours.

"No one should be turned away when they’re seeking help, but it’s important that they’re directed to the right place.

“It’s also vital that health boards are properly supported to meet rising demand. A&E departments cannot be expected to deliver the same level of service they did pre-pandemic, without increased resource.”

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And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.

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