24-hour wait in A&E for 12 city patients

Published on 17/10/2012 12:00

TWELVE patients at two Edinburgh hospitals were forced to wait for more than 24 hours in Accident and Emergency units, new figures obtained by the Tories show.

More than 50 people over the last four years, including some children, waited more than a day to be seen by doctors and either admitted to a ward or discharged. A further 65 were delayed by at least 18 hours.

Twelve patients, split equally between the city’s ERI and Western General waited over 24 hours for treatment to conclude.

The Scottish Government’s target is a maximum four hours’ wait after arriving at A&E units before patients should be transferred to a ward or allowed home.

Health campaigners say although the figure is only a fraction of the total number of patients who visit A&E, the number of people waiting to be treated highlights “severe staffing and resource issues”.

OAP ‘starved’ in ERI – Page 9