The week January 26 to February 2 saw a slight deterioration in waiting times at A&E departments in England. The sudden cold snap, norovirus outbreaks and an increase in influenza cases all affected waiting times.
Great Western Hospital in Swindon (which caters for most people in in the Marlborough area) missed the government target that says 95 per cent of people should be seen in A&E within four hours.
Against the national average for major A&Es of 88.3 per cent seen within four hours, the GWH figure was 82.7 per cent – which equates to 245 people waiting more than four hours.
Attendances at GWH’s A&E were up, as were emergency admissions. The number of ambulances waiting 30 minutes was down – as were numbers of beds blocked and bed days lost to norovirus.
One day in the past fortnight, a GWH audit found that 40 per cent of the hospital’s beds were blocked – that is occupied by patients who should have left hospital had they been found suitable places to go.
The other two hospitals serving Wiltshire patients, Bath’s Royal United Hospital and Salisbury Hospital were both among the 35 major A&E trusts in England that achieved the 95 per cent target – in Salisbury’s case by 0.3 per cent.
