Thousands of patients wait more than an hour for transfer from ambulance to A&E
A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Newbury Weekly News revealed that 2,408 patients across the south of England had to remain in the care of ambulance crews for over an hour after arrival at hospital, between April 2013 and March this year.
The figures also revealed that the longest wait faced by a patient transmitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH), Reading, by ambulance was four hours 26 minutes, and two hours 27 minutes at the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.
However, RBH spokesman Joe Wise disputed the SCAS figures, arguing no such figure was showing on their system and the alarmingly high time was most likely owing to the handover between ambulance and hospital staff not having been recorded correctly.
In total, 95 per cent of all patients conveyed by ambulance to RBH were transferred to hospital staff less than a minute after arriving, and the average wait for treatment for all A&E patients was 72 minutes.
In addition, 95 per cent of all patients were admitted and discharged from the emergency unit within four hours of arriving.
For the full story, pick up a copy of today's Newbury Weekly News.