Forth Valley Royal Hospital’s emergency department is getting £900,000 to recruit more doctors and consultants in a bid to cut overcrowding and long waiting times for patients.

A report to NHS Forth Valley’s board says a shortage of staff means there are not enough “senior decision makers” available creating delays for patients, while staff are working under “sustained and increasing pressure”.

According to the report, the extra staff needed in to meet the demand has been reviewed and costed to around £2.3 million, which would employ another six consultants, seven speciality doctors and one Advanced Nurse Practitioner (whole-time equivalents).

The pilot year will see two consultant grades being recruited, along with four speciality doctor grades, which will particularly help boost staffing in the evenings.

More staff are to be employed to cut long waits at the Emergency Department at FVRH. Pic: Michael Gillen

placeholder image — More staff are to be employed to cut long waits at the Emergency Department at FVRH. Pic: Michael Gillen

At the moment, the number of senior staff available drops off between 5pm and 9pm, while the number of people attending remains high.

The Scottish Government will fund the new posts for one year which will allow the board to see the impact of having more senior staff at that time.

If the project is a success, the board will then need to find the money from its own budget in future years.

Garry Fraser, NHS Forth Valley’s director of acute services, said: “This is a welcome development which will help address increasing demand, particularly in the busy evening and overnight period.

“Additional investment in our ED workforce is also expected to deliver improved patient outcomes and experience, shorter waiting times and reduced use of temporary medical staff.

“Progress will be closely monitored during the initial pilot phase to ensure these plans deliver the anticipated improvements and help inform any future changes.”

Recruitment is already underway for the new posts after the board backed the plans in a bid to tackle long waiting times.

The board has faced criticism after persistently missing the Scottish Government’s targets to have 95 per cent of patients either treated, discharged or admitted to hospital within four hours of arrival at the emergency department.

In recent years, the figure has rarely been much higher than 50 per cent of patients meeting the target time, with significant numbers waiting for more than nine hours.

The board heard that while there is not just one solution to the ongoing issue, senior managers are confident that this will have a positive impact.

It is hoped that the new staffing will help the board to an improved four-hour board performance to 70 per cent in 2026/27.