A&E waiting times worsen across Wales during “very challenging December” for hospitals

A&E departments across Wales recorded their worst ever waiting times last month.

72.1 per cent of patients were seen within the four hour target during December – below the target of 95 per cent.

A series of messages urging the members of the public in to ‘choose well’ and consider whether A&E is needed were sent by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board during the month – with the Wrexham Maelor Hospital experiencing increased demand.

Figures released yesterday show that just over 52 per cent of people who visited the hospital’s emergency department were seen within the four hour period.

This is 10 percentage points down on its own figures for November 2019, and more than five percentage points worse than last month’s record low.

Overall 5,131 people visited Wrexham Maelor’s A&E during December – a slight increase on the 5,036 who visited in November.

73.2 per cent were seen within eight hours and 83.4 per cent were seen locally within 12 hours.

Across Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board 66.8 per cent of patients were seen within the target time.

Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, has responded to the latest NHS performance statistics and announced an extra £10m, on top of the £30m earlier this year, to support health and social care delivery in recognition of increased pressure this winter.

Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething said: “I would like to thank front line staff for their hard work and skill during what was a very challenging December.

“Last month saw record high demand on the ambulance service, the highest number of attendance at emergency departments for any December and record numbers of emergency admissions for over 75 year olds.

“There has been a welcome reduction in delayed transfers of care but too many patients are spending long periods in emergency departments waiting for a hospital bed.

“We want Health Boards to work with partners to improve the flow of patients through the hospital system and out into the community, and I have made an extra £10m available to support improvement in this area.

“The ambulance service faced significant pressure, with average daily ‘red calls’ increasing to the highest on record and exceeding 100 for the first time. We are disappointed the target was not achieved although more patients in the red category received a response within the target time than last December.

“Demand on emergency departments is also affecting the delivery of planned treatments at hospitals. This is being made worse by doctors reducing their hours because of changes to HMRC pension tax rules by the UK Government.

“By the end of December, this had led to about 3,200 sessions lost, affecting nearly 27,000 patients. I have called on the UK Government to resolve this matter urgently.

“Our hard-working, dedicated NHS staff have been working tirelessly throughout the year and it is clear demand is only set to grow. For that reason we need to transform the way we deliver health and social care in the future.”

However Shadow Health Minister – Angela Burns AM/AC – described the figures as “disturbing”.

She said: “The health minister must announce what remedial action he is going to take, and a definite timeframe in which to deliver it.

“In those critical times when people attend A&E departments, they need the reassurance that they will be seen not ‘as soon as possible’, but within – and well within – the waiting periods set by this Welsh Labour Government and its health minister.

“And let’s be clear: our hardworking NHS Wales staff are there to deliver the best care that they can, but they, too, are being let down by mismanagement at the top. It’s a credit to them that they manage to cope under such circumstances.

“This Welsh Labour administration created this crisis, and doesn’t seem that it can solve it.”