Trust blames winter bug for long delays at A&E

Figures released by the Department of Health have revealed that just over 70% of patients attending the local A&E are dealt with in under four hours. This is significantly less than reported for other hospitals of the same type, where the figures exceed 90%.

In March this year 72.6% of the 2,813 people who attended the local A&E were either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival. In the same month 90 people spent over twelve hours in the accident and emergency department.

The March figures are slightly down on those for February, which showed 79.8% of the 2,330 people arriving at the A&E were dealt with in under four hours.

The Trust has put the low figures down to pressures of the season and gave assurances that performance over the past few weeks had improved.

A spokesperson for the Trust explained: "Performance in Lagan Valley Hospital has improved significantly over recent weeks, for example 90% of patients over the last fortnight were treated, discharged or admitted within the four hour timeframe.

"Prior to this, the hospital experienced a difficult period due to the winter vomiting bug which meant that due to patients being isolated, bed availability was restricted.

"The Emergency Department at Lagan Valley also experienced higher than average attendances and admissions to hospital along with unusually high numbers of patients requiring discharge into a complex care package which further strained capacity. Winter pressures on services are present every year, but this year's cold spell showed an increasing number of patients requiring hospital admission due to fractures and chest infections," she added.