A MAJOR hospital has failed to hit Accident and Emergency waiting time targets for the third year in a row.
More than 1000 people, about 23 per cent of casualty patients, waited more than four hours in the Emergency Department in at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan in September.
Darren Millar, AM for Clwyd West, described the figures as “incredibly worrying”, and said they were consistently outside the government target and showed signs of worsening.
He said: “With three years of failing to meet the four hour target, today’s figures are sadly no surprise. Progress has reversed and the figures have worsened, despite a drop in overall attendance to A and E.
“Winter is on its way - when the number of people attending will increase - and the starting blocks have just been dragged back considerably.
"Excessive waits in A&E departments can be distressing and uncomfortable - especially for the elderly, young children and the chronically ill.”
A Betsi Cadwaladr spokeswoman said performance in Glan Clwyd improved during October and now stood at 80 per cent.
She said: “The overall performance in BCUHB is comparable to the rest of Wales with the exception of Glan Clwyd.
“The issues currently challenging the Emergency Department at Glan Clwyd are recognised and major streams of work are in place to improve performance to ensure that patients are seen as quickly as possible.”
The spokeswoman said the consultant medical workforce and the number of beds available in the department were increasing to deliver an improved service for patients.
She said: “Organisations have been working together in North Wales for a number of months to put in place a robust Winter Plan which sets out how we will work together to manage an increase in pressure on all health and social care departments.”