Official figures for NHS waiting times in Nottingham show services are at “breaking point”, says UNISON
New figures show patients in Nottingham are waiting longer to be treated in A&E than many other parts of the country, while the number who leave without treatment is almost five times the national average.
Data released by NHS Digital shows some patients attending A&E at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham are having to wait over 13 hours before receiving treatment. The average waiting time to be seen is 1 hour 55 minutes at the hospital, while the national average is just over an hour. The figures * also reveal patients admitted by ambulance have had to wait more than eight hours for an initial assessment by A&E staff at the hospital.
The average across the NHS in England for patients who have left A&E departments before being seen for treatment is just 2.1%, while at Nottingham University Hospital Trust the figure is 10%, almost five times the national average.
UNISON East Midlands head of health Ann Eastham said: “These new figures show NHS services have reached breaking point in Nottingham. Dedicated NHS staff are going above and beyond to care for the public but they are under enormous pressure with heavier workloads and too few staff.
“NHS services are being severely underfunded by the government and we are facing a health care crisis after nine years of austerity cuts. The dedicated people working in our NHS deserve better and so do the people who rely upon them.”
UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in both the public and private sectors.
* The full data set from NHS digital can found [here]
Media contact:
Elliot Dean M: 07852 155730 E: e.dean@unison.co.uk