Commenting on monthly Accident and Emergency (A&E) performance figures published by the Information Services Division Scotland, Health Secretary Shona Robison MSP said:
“Early March saw Scotland experience the worst snowfall it has in years, with a red ‘do not travel’ warning issued for the first time. This had a significant impact on the delivery of services across the NHS, including A&E and is reflected in the figures for March. This level of disruption takes hospitals time to recover from.
“I want to again thank health and social care staff for their tremendous efforts during that period of bad weather and their ongoing commitment to deliver an optimal service.
“Scotland’s A&Es have outperformed those in the rest of the UK for three consecutive years, partly due to our focus on improving patient flow, ensuring that once people arrive into A&E, they can be admitted or transferred in a timely way.”
The level of patients attending increased by 12% in March compared to February and attendances in the year to March 2018 are the highest since records began.
Added Kenneth Gibson MSP:
“Despite ongoing pressures and horrendous weather, which made it difficult for staff to even get to work on some days, of 9,667 patients attending at A&E services in NHS Ayrshire & Arran during March, 90.8% were admitted to hospital, treated or discharged within four hours.
“I am delighted that the hard work, dedication, organisation and commitment of NHS Ayrshire & Arran staff has paid off; delivering a performance better than the Scottish average and that of the other three nations of the UK, to the benefit of patients and their families across Ayrshire.”
The figures of patients for March 2018 treated, discharged or admitted across the nations of the UK are:
Scotland 87.9%
England 76.4%
Northern Ireland 59.3%
Wales 69.7%
ENDS
