Fife A&E: drop in patients seen in four hours but Fife above national average

The data was presented to a board meeting of NHS Fife last week.

The number of eight-hour breaches went down from 311 in June to 233 in July while patients waiting 12 hours dropped from 59 to 10 in July.

Across Scotland, 72.7% of A&E patients were seen within the four hour window - since 2007 the standard is that 95% of patients are seen and subsequently admitted, discharged or transferred within that timespan.

Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital has continued to fare a bit worse than the overall Fife average, but it also represents the busiest A&E in the Kingdom. The Vic managed to see 69% of A&E patients within a four hour window in July - which is slightly worse than its figures from June.

However, the performance report stated: “The overall attendances at the Victoria Hospital emergency department continue to be higher than attendances at the start of the year and the number of admissions remains at an average of 33%.”

The report continued: “Flow through the hospital has been supported with a weekend discharge team which has improved overall opening positions on Mondays. Challenges remain when occupancy of ED is high, impacting on available assessment space resulting in increased waits for first assessment. Work continues for redirection and increased use of the Rapid Triage Unit for clinically appropriate patients.”