Latest A&E waiting times show continued pressure on NHS Forth Valley

Waiting times at the hospital have been lengthy at times with latest figures showing just 54.7 per cent of those attending A&E at the Larbert hospital were seen within four hours in the week up to April 10.

This is in comparison to the Scottish Government’s target for 95 per cent of patients to be discharged or admitted within four hours.

Once again the figures showed NHS Forth Valley recorded the lowest number of people seen within the target four hour period.Forth Valley Royal Hospital was not the worst faring hospital however, with others including Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary recording lower numbers respectively at 42 per cent and 49 per cent within the four hours.

The low total for NHS Forth Valley comes as the health board only has one hospital with an A&E department, while other boards have multiple sites for emergencies.

According to the data published by Public Health Scotland, in Forth Valley a total of 1095 people attended A&E in the week ending April 10.

Of those, 496 waited over four hours; 80 waited over eight hours and 13 people waited more than 12 hours.

A spokeswoman for NHS Forth Valley said: “Over the last few weeks we have seen a recent sharp rise in the number of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 as well as high numbers of seriously ill patients attending our ED and assessment centres who require urgent care and treatment.

“This is having a significant impact on our capacity and ability to move patients across and between our hospitals.

“As a result, some patients have had to wait for longer periods of time in the Emergency Department until an inpatient bed becomes available.

"Staff are doing everything possible to reduce delays and people with more serious injuries and injuries continue to be prioritised.

"Many patients also undergo tests and start their treatment in ED while they are waiting to be admitted to a ward.”

The low figure for the local health board came as the data showed waiting times across Scottish A&E departments matched their worst level on record, with 66.2 per cent of people being dealt with within four hours, the same as in the week up to March 20.

However, the government has said incomplete data this week meant the figures were likely to be an “undercount”.

While in Scotland as a whole, the figures show 7705 of the 22,774 people who attended A&E waited more than four hours.

Of the 7705 who waited more than four hours, 2373 waited more than eight hours and 944 longer than 12 hours.