Waiting times at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) Emergency Department have seen seen a 12,920 per cent increase since 2014/15.

The figures from a new and unplanned review of attendances waiting over 12 hours at A&E by the Health and Social Care Trust saw figures rise from 10 in 2014/15 to 1,292 in 2018/19 as part of the Emergency Care Statistics for 2018/19.

Cross-Community Labour Alternative Councillor Donal O'Cofaigh expressed his concern over the figures which show a significant increase in patients facing long waits at the SWAH A&E.

"It's truly shocking that 1,292 people waited more than 12 hours be seen at the South West Acute A&E unit in the last year. That's a 330 per cent increase compared to the previous year, reflecting a long-term trend. Other emergency departments also saw increases, but this was the biggest leap in Northern Ireland. The Western Health Trust and Department of Health must commit to action to reverse this trend urgently.

"The huge turnout at the stroke consultation meeting in Enniskillen showed that people are determined to defend our health service. I'm committed to working alongside trade unionists and health campaigners locally and further afield to resist every attack on our services and to fight for a fully-funded, free and accessible public health service which meets people's needs."

With more and more people waiting longer to be seen, hundreds of appointment were missed at the hospital in the past month.

826 patients failed to attend their outpatient appointments at the hospital.