New figures show December busiest for Welsh A&E departments in five years -worst for waiting times

The data reveals 81% of those who went to A&E were assessed, treated and then admitted or discharged in less than four hours, the target is 95% 

The four hour waiting time performance is the worst since the Welsh Government started to gather the date in its current format.

The figures published today show December was busiest for Welsh A&E departments in five years.

Latest data from England’s A&E, which is perhaps more relevant to many of us on Deeside as the Countess of Chester A&E is our nearest hospital, show they performed at 89.8% nearly 9% better than Wales.

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood bl;asted the latest figures saying;

“Only in Wales, where Labour run the NHS, have there have been cuts to health spending and the performance of Accident and Emergency departments in Wales is worse than in England.

“The data in the other nations lags behind England. In Wales the data from November shows just 83.8% of patients were seen in time. In England the data from the last week of November shows 93.5% of patients were seen in time, almost 10% higher than in Wales. Northern Ireland is performing even worse – just over 80% of patients were seen within four hours in November. In Scotland 93.5% of patients were seen in four hours during September, but comparing the September figures for England and Scotland shows England was performing slightly better.

“NHS Wales is something to be valued and protected, but, despite the best efforts of frontline NHS staff in Wales, patients are waiting longer for NHS treatment than patients in England.

Deputy Minister for Health Vaughan Gething praised the work of NHS staff for dealing with winter pressures which saw 76,889 people attending A&E during December.

• GP out-of-hour services experienced their busiest festive period since they were established. In Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board area, the out-of-hours service received some 1,800 calls on a single weekend between Christmas and New Year
• The Welsh Ambulance Service saw a significant rise in the most critically-ill patients using its services, with unprecedented levels of demand over recent weeks. There were 725 category A calls on New Year’s day – an increase of around 225 incidents on what is considered a normal day and a 17.5% increase on New Year’s day in 2014
• Hospital emergency departments across Wales have reported an increase in admissions of patients with acute conditions, complex needs and dependency.

This week the Welsh Government announced an extra £40m to the Welsh NHS in 2014-15 to help it deal with winter pressures, the equivalent amount for Wales to the additional £700m the UK Government has given to NHS England to help it deal with the same issue.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:

“These figures show eight out of 10 people who went to A&E were assessed, treated and then admitted or discharged in less than four hours during December.

“Whilst different reporting mechanisms make it difficult to make direct comparisons with other parts of the UK, it is clear that all health services are experiencing significant pressures. I would like to thank everyone within the Welsh NHS for their unrelenting commitment to patient care during this difficult period.

“We have announced an extra £40m to help the NHwww.thetimes.co.ukS deal with winter pressures. This means we have invested a further quarter of a billion pounds in the Welsh NHS in 2014-15 to continue to deliver high-quality, sustainable health services.”

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