A&E Waiting Times Hit Ten-Year High

Official figures show waiting times in our A&E departments have hit a ten-year high.

All of our local hospitals have missed their target of seeing 95% of patients within four hours of arriving at Accident and Emergency.

Across England, the NHS says 92.6% of patients were seen within a four-hour target in the last three months of 2014, rather than the aim of 95%.

Jan Brooke's 23-year-old son, Adam Robson from Cottingham, had to wait over an hour and half for an ambulance when he broke his leg while playing rugby for Beverley on Saturday.

Jan then told Viking he had to wait again outisde Hull Royal Infirmary because there wasn't enough space for him:

"He was obviously very cold and shivering and he was in pain and amateur rugby clubs there's not really a lot of facilities. Everyone says you need emergency equipment but there's not really the money but it was just the demand unfortunately on the emergency services which are extreme at the moment due to a lack of funds."

Hull Royal Infirmary and Yorkshire Ambulance Service have apologised.

It's as Scarborough Hospital is one of 6 hospitals that have declared a "major incident" because they're struggling with patient numbers.

A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust told Viking FM:

“It is no secret that the Trust has been experiencing a range of pressures across its services, including the Emergency Department (ED). Whilst we have seen a steady rise in the number of people attending ED over the last year or so, now averaging well over 300 people per day, we have also experienced other difficulties, such as delays in discharging patients, which have made meeting the 95% standard a particular challenge.

“Our Emergency Department has been undergoing major renovation and improvement works for over two years. This work is costing more than £7 million and, once complete, will give us extra capacity by doubling the size of the department and giving us one of the largest resuscitation areas in the country.

“We are also in the process of implementing a number of changes to the medical pathways for patients when they arrive in the Emergency Department, and we hope to see steady improvements in our ED performance over the coming weeks and months as a result. We are also working with our commissioners, social care and community care partners to ensure more patients are able to access appropriate care in the community, thereby helping to support faster discharge or prevent hospital admissions altogether.

“Members of the public can help to reduce the pressure on our ED by considering alternative health services for non-urgent advice and treatment, such as GP surgeries, walk-in centres, minor injury units or pharmacies.”