MORE than 1,300 people had to wait longer than four hours to be dealt with in Nottingham's only accident and emergency department in one month, new figures reveal.
The latest NHS figures show data for hospital admissions and waiting times for July – and reveal that 15,400 people attended the emergency department in the Queen's Medical Centre during the month.
One patient is recorded as having waited for more than 16 hours before being dealt with. However, it has emerged that this involved someone who was refusing to leave – and police had to be called to help.
The Government target is for 95 per cent of patients in A&E to be dealt with within four hours, and Nottingham University Hospitals Trust – which runs the QMC and City Hospital – has set its own target of 98 per cent.
For the month in question, 91.4 per cent of patients were seen within the limit.
The figures, collated by the NHS Information Centre, also said that 539 people left the A&E department without being treated. The hospital said that in the majority of these cases people left because they realised they didn't require emergency treatment.
A spokesman for the Trust said: "We are committed to improving the timeliness and quality of care for our emergency patients. Ahead of winter we invested in extra beds for emergencies, including a new observation and treatment unit at QMC."
The statistics come off the back of a national survey of A&E departments – conducted by the Care Quality Commission – which showed that waiting times are getting longer nationally compared to 2007.
However, the survey also found that most people said they still had confidence and trust in health professionals who treated them.
David Behan, chief executive of the CQC, said: "People should be seen, diagnosed, treated and admitted or discharged as quickly as possible and this is an issue that trusts need to urgently tackle."
In June the Post reported that 10,831 A&E patients were kept waiting at the QMC for more than four hours in 2011-12 – a rise of 82 per cent on the previous year, when just 5,943 patients were affected.