Crosshouse Hospital was ranked the UK's best for Accident and Emergency (A & E) training in 2019. This was revealed by Dr David Chung, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, in a fascinating briefing by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) which Kenneth attended at the Scottish Parliament.
Kenneth Gibson MSP commented:
“A & E training takes place in 21 Scottish hospitals and hundreds elsewhere in the UK, so for Crosshouse to come first is an accolade indeed. Ayr came third in the UK, where Scottish departments had three of the top five places.
“The General Medical Council asks trainees to rank their own training experiences anonymously with those experiences put on record.
“I am delighted that Ayrshire is top, not just in Scotland but across the UK. This is a tribute to the staff who work so hard and Dr Chung himself, who is based at Crosshouse and is Vice President of the RCEM. The people of Ayrshire are safe in his hands and those of his staff.”
In 2018-19 there were 1,432,370 attendances at A & E departments in Scotland. This was 71,758 more patients than the previous year, an increase of 5.27%.
The average cost to the NHS of each attendance was £133.
Since June 2014, the SNP Government has boosted the number of A & E consultants from 156 to 229.8 Whole Time Equivalents, a 46.5% rise.
Dr Chung commented:
“Last year 87.88% of A & E Patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. While this is below the 95% target, Scotland’s Emergency Departments continue to outperform the other UK nations, both in time to treat and patient outcomes at a time when patient numbers are rising dramatically and the average patient is now older and frailer than in previous years. This presents its own care and treatment challenges.
“We are now in a situation that anyone trained in the West of Scotland is of such a high standard that they can walk into an Emergency Department anywhere in the world and be offered a job. We have to continue working hard to ensure Scotland continues to benefit from such excellence.
“We have a saying ‘If it’s right for the patient, its right for the department.’”
Pictured with Kenneth are Dr David Chung and Dr Katy Richie, a Senior Registrar in Aberdeen.
ENDS
