NHS Forth Valley: Concerns as health board records worst A&E waits in Scotland

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health Michael Matheson MSP – who is also the MSP for Falkirk West as the latest figures show “NHS Forth Valley is underperforming the rest of Scotland by a significant margin”.

Mr Rowley noted that this week’s figures show that only 47.6 per cent of attendees were seen within four hours at the Larbert Hospital – the worst figure for any health board in Scotland and the only health board with a figure below 50 per cent.

On top of the extremely low figures to be seen within the four-hour target, 23.7 per cent waited over eight hours and 10.2 per cent waited over twelve hours to be seen – both the worst in Scotland he added.

However, the MSP is comparing Scottish health board figures and, with NHS Forth Valley only having one acute hospital this can distort the figures. The recent figures show it was not the worst performing hospital in the country.

Mr Rowley said: “The pressures being faced by staff across our health and social care services are enormous, and not enough support is being provided by the Scottish Government to alleviate those pressures. Whether that be failures in terms of workforce planning or systemic problems within the health board that are being left unmanaged by government, it is clear the people serviced by NHS Forth Valley, and the staff, are being let down.

“The Scottish Government has set a target that 95 per cent of people attending A&E should be seen, admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours. Yet here we have over half of attendees to NHS Forth Valley waiting over four hours, almost a quarter waiting over eight hours and one in ten waiting for over twelve hours. Something isn’t right.

“I have been raising concerns regarding NHS Forth Valley A&E waiting times for over five years, yet the situation seems to continue to get worse. The Scottish Government need to get a grip on this matter, the previous Health Secretary is now First Minister, yet no action seems to have been taken and more and more people are being let down. We need to address why this specific health board is underperforming so drastically compared with all others in Scotland, and so consistently recording some of the lowest figures for A&E waiting times in Scotland.

“It is time SNP Ministers took their heads out the sand and owned up to the problems staring them in the face here. Until, they do and take the necessary action, the people using these services and the staff themselves are just going to continue to be let down.”

A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley said: “Forth Valley Royal Hospital, like many hospitals across Scotland, continues to face capacity challenges with many seriously ill patients requiring admission for treatment along with high numbers of patients experiencing delays in being discharged.

“This is evidenced in the most recent weekly figures where the performance against the four-hour emergency access standard was below 50 per cent in a number of hospitals - including Glasgow Royal Infirmary (45 per cent) and University Hospital Wishaw (48 per cent).

“Despite the ongoing challenges, good progress is being made to reduce the number of patients experiencing very long waits in emergency department (ED) and efforts continue to free up capacity and reduce delays across local health and care services. A new dedicated entrance to the Urgent Care Centre at Forth Valley Royal Hospital has recently been created to enable ambulance crews to bring patients directly to the centre for assessment and treatment. This will not only enable patients to be seen quicker but will also help free up capacity in the ED.