An average of 30 patients a day waited more than 12 hours in emergency departments across NHS Ayrshire & Arran during August, new figures reveal.
The health board’s latest performance report shows that just 57.4 percent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. This was below the board’s planned performance level of 67 percent and well short of the national four-hour standard of 95 percent.
Pressure on beds and handovers
The figures are contained in papers going before NHS Ayrshire & Arran board members on Monday, October 12. They highlight continuing pressures on emergency care, hospital beds and the movement of patients through the healthcare system.
Patients spent an average of five hours and 48 minutes in emergency departments during August. Ambulance turnaround times were also affected, with just 59.8 percent of handovers completed within 60 minutes.
The report links the delays to continuing difficulties moving patients from emergency departments into appropriate hospital beds. At the end of August, 92.5 percent of the health board’s acute hospital beds were occupied.
Longer stays and delayed discharges
The number of patients remaining in hospital for more than 14 days, excluding those formally recorded as delayed discharges, stood at 161. Although this was below the board’s revised target of 178, the report acknowledges that these longer stays continue to reduce the number of beds available for new admissions.
Delayed discharges are another significant concern. At the July census point, 266 patients were recorded as delayed in hospital, above the board’s planned level of fewer than 256. The number of occupied hospital bed days attributable to delayed discharge rose from 8,410 in June to 8,736 in July.
Some improvements elsewhere
The performance report says these pressures are contributing to sustained difficulties across urgent and unscheduled care. There were some improvements elsewhere.
The board’s Hospital at Home service avoided 541 hospital bed days during August, equivalent to approximately 17 beds a day. Meanwhile, 88.4 percent of patients attending Combined Assessment Units were discharged or transferred within 72 hours.
The Ayrshire Urgent Care Service also continued to meet its reported performance standards. However, emergency department performance remains one of the board’s most significant challenges. The latest figures will be considered as part of the board’s review of healthcare performance and recovery measures.
