A&E hospital waiting times missed due to 'bad weather'

Hospital accident and emergency departments in Wales failed to hit their waiting time targets last year, new figures show.

December was the worst month and the assembly government blamed the weather and flu.

According to its report, just over 81% were seen in less than four hours in a major A&E department - the target is 95%.

But between December 2009 and 2010, the target was missed every month.

The assembly government said the figures should be seen in the "context of the prolonged period of cold weather."

The Annual Operating Framework (AOF) targets for all A&E departments in Wales state that 95% of patients should "spend no longer than four hours in a major A&E department from arrival until admission, transfer or discharge".

The AOF states that 99% of patients should spend no longer than eight hours in A&E.

But the report shows major A&E departments failed to hit the targets.

The best month was July when 88.8% of patients were seen in under four hours and August when 97.8% of patients were seen in under eight hours.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said: "These figures show the significant pressure the NHS was under in December, and we want to thank staff for their hard work in caring for patients in difficult conditions.

"These figures need to be seen in the context of the prolonged period of cold weather and snow on top of the usual health problems associated with winter that staff have to deal with.

"More than 50,000 people attend emergency departments across Wales every month and the vast majority of patients receive treatment within target times.

"We are reviewing emergency care services in Wales to ensure that we continue to improve patient outcomes."

Figures for December 2010 show 60,529 patients attended a major A&E department - 74,403 in total across all Wales' hospital emergency care facilities.

'Terrible stories'

Conservative health spokesman Nick Ramsay said: "These alarming figures show that despite the hard work and dedication of NHS staff, patients are not receiving the efficient and timely treatment they deserve."

Separate figures obtained by the Welsh Liberal Democrats this week showed that in two years ambulances spent more than 80,000 hours waiting to transfer patients to hospitals.

Lib Dem health spokeswoman Veronica German said: "We hear of terrible stories of people having to wait on trolleys in corridors and ambulances and having to wait more than eight hours to be treated.

"The health minister knows that this is going on but we see that nothing is being done to address these problems."