Local NHS ‘continuing to perform really well’ on A&E access

SHETLAND continues to perform well when it comes to A&E (accident and emergency) waiting times, the local health board has heard.

On average around 90 per cent of people presenting to A&E at the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick, or more, are seen within four hours.

This is above the national average, which currently sits at 63.4 per cent.

The Scotland-wide average in recent months has seen the Scottish Government come under fire. The government’s target is for 95 per cent of those attending in A&E to be dealt with within four hours.

NHS Shetland’s nursing and acute services director Kathleen Carolan told a meeting of the health board on Tuesday that “Shetland has continued to perform really well in terms of A&E access through winter”.

She said between 140 and 180 tend to come to A&E on average, and around 20 to 30 per day. The numbers sometimes increase at weekends, the board heard.

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The figures are broadly the same as before the Covid pandemic.

Carolan said instances were there have been more people waiting have largely been related to clinical complexity rather than “system pressures”.

The last public figures are for the week ending 16 April, with 89.1 per cent of people turning up to A&E in Lerwick being seen within four hours.