Millions of pounds will be pumped into Paisley’ Royal Alexandra Hospital to help end long waiting times at A&E.
The Scottish Government yesterday confirmed the Paisley hospital would get a share of the £50million allocated to health boards to drive down waiting times in emergency departments.
The news comes just two days after statistics were published showing that almost half of all patients attending A&E at the RAH were not seen within the four-hour target time.
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In the final week of August 53.9 per cent of patients were seen, treated admitted or discharged within four hours.
Last week that rose to 56.1 per cent.
The Scottish Government target requires 95 per cent of all patients attending A&E in Scotland be seen within four hours.
The figures mean the RAH recorded its worst ever performance in A&E waiting times in August.
But health secretary Humza Yousef says projects and investments are in place to turn things around at the RAH and other hospitals across Scotland, which are all experiencing similar problems.
Referring to the First Minister’s announcement on Monday that £50m will this year be ploughed into A&E initiatives, Mr Yousef said: “The pandemic has presented the NHS with the greatest challenge of its 74-year existence.
“Despite this, Scotland continues to have the best performing A&Es in the UK, outperforming those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for seven years.
“Occupancy and staffing pressures remain high across emergency departments and continue to have an impact on the delivery of services.
“We are investing £50 million to drive down waiting times through our urgent and unscheduled care collaborative programme, including further development of flow navigation centres in every board which aim to ensure rapid access to a clinician and scheduled appointments, where possible.”
The urgent and unscheduled care collaborative programme will see people offered scheduled, urgent appointments avoid long waits in A&E.
The programme also aims to simplify the discharge process to ensure patients don’t face unnecessary delays in leaving hospital.
It will also offer patients alternatives to hospital-based treatment via the “hospital at home” initiative and the NHS 24 phone service.
Mr Yousef added: “As we enter the winter period, people should consider whether their condition is an emergency, such as a stroke, heart attack or major trauma, before going to A&E.
“Local GPs and pharmacies can be contacted during the day for noncritical care, NHS 24 is also available day or night on 111 for non-emergency inquiries.”
Plans to offer increased care to people with infections at home will also free up beds at the RAH.
The Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) service supports early discharge for patients with complex infections, who would otherwise require a long hospital stay.
The Royal Alexandria Hospital ambulatory care service will soon be offering an OPAT cellulitis admission avoidance service to ensure people with this condition can recover in their own homes.
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