20.05.15
Wales continues to miss A&E targets
The number of patients spending longer than 12 hours in Welsh A&E departments has more than doubled in the past year, new figures have revealed.
The Welsh government has released new data that shows 2,145 people were in Welsh A&E units for more than 12 hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge in April.
This improves on the 2,422 who waited more than 12 hours in March, the 2,202 in February , and the 3049 in January – but is more than double the levels seen a year earlier, where 1,005 waited for more than 12 hours in April 2014.
Emergency departments also missed the four hour waiting time target again, with only 83.3% of patients being seen in the time limit, well below the target of 95%. However it is an improvement on March’s figure of 82.3%.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Emergency departments across Wales saw 83,629 patients in April 2015 – that’s 2,788 people a day on average, 141 more per day than in March.
“Despite this increase in demand, performance against the four-hour target has improved this month.
“There are, however, no grounds for complacency. While the figures show the lowest number of patients spending more than 12 hours in A&E since November 2014, any delay for admission or discharge will not be tolerated. We continue to monitor the situation.”
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