Beggs puts pressure over A&E waiting

East Antrim MLA Roy Beggs has again raised the issue of waiting times at casualty units in Northern Ireland, in particular at Antrim Area Hospital.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd Jun 2013, 00:22 BST

Questioning HealthMinister Edwin Poots at Stormont, Mr Beggs said:“During March and April, the main A&E units saw the lowest proportion of patients treated within four hours ever recorded. How can the minister be confident that we are seeing something more significant than the normal seasonal adjustment as we approach the summer months?”

Speaking later, Mr Beggs commented: “There were headlines in the national newspapers recently about a crisis in A&E waiting times in England and Wales.

“Yet the figures there remain far better than in Northern Ireland. We are nowhere near the NHS target that 95 per cent of patients should be seen at A&E within four hours,” he said.

I see nothing in Minister Poots’ performances at Stormont that he either understands the full extent of the problems here, or that he has a plan to tackle it.”