It is consistent, high pressure.. you walk into the department and you just know it is going to be a bad shift

Published date09 March 2022
Publication titleAirdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Dr Calvin Lightbody is an A&E consultant who doesn't procrastinate when asked to encapsulate a day in his life and that of his team at the busy emergency department of one of Lanarkshire's three acute hospitals

As he spoke early on an exceptionally busy Tuesday afternoon, there were seven patients who'd been waiting for more than 12 hours in the A&E unit at University Hospital Hairmyres, four of whom were aged over 80.

"These are our frailest, most vulnerable patients and they are waiting for a horrendously long time for a bed in the hospital," said Dr Lightbody, who revealed patients have waited within the department for up to 18 hours before being seen, admitted or discharged.

At the time of our visit, 41 patients were in the A&E unit, which has a capacity of 28. And, with no patient flow, seven of them were languishing in chairs in the waiting room.

Dr Claire McDougall, chief of medicine and consultant physician at University Hospital Hairmyres, reported that on Monday, 18 people had to remain in the A&E department overnight. t. hey couldn't be moved to beds within wards - because there weren't any available.

Although beds are provided within A&E for patients who endure a wait of 12 hours or more, they are accommodated in an area lacking in privacy, with no windows and few toilets.

Even when a patient is discharged from hospital, explained Dr McDougall, the process of organising medication and transport means that it takes time to free up their beds for those who are waiting.

When we visited last Tuesday, capacity at Hairmyres was at 105 per cent due to the number of patients who had not been allocated beds.

That morning, a 29th patient was moved from A&E into a treatment room of f a ward which has a 28-bed capacity - a practice which, says Dr McDougall, has become more frequent over the past six months.

"We are seeing medical and nursing staff members who have just about had enough," she said.

"Certain departments are struggling to keep up with the workload...

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