Figures from the recent statistics around emergency care waiting times showed that, on average, patients spent more than 12 hours waiting in the Emergency Department (ED) of the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) to be admitted to hospital last December, 2022.

The report released by the Department of Health last week showed patients waited an average of 12 hours and 23 minutes in December at the SWAH ED to be admitted to hospital – an increase of almost four hours from December, 2021 (at 8 hours 37 minutes).

This was the third-shortest waiting time in Northern Ireland last December, with only the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHAS) and Antrim Area Hospital having shorter waiting times.

Last December, Altnagelvin had a waiting time of 19 hours and 58 minutes – up by almost seven hours from December, 2021 (13 hours).

Decrease

At the SWAH last December, there were 3,274 total attendances at its ED; however, only 46.6 per cent of those were seen within the targeted time of four hours. This was a decrease compared to December, 2021, when the figure was 49.7 per cent.

In December, 578 people left the ED before their treatment was complete.

Looking at how long it took for patients to start ED treatment at the SWAH following triage last December, this took 45 minutes, compared to two hours and 13 minutes at Altnagelvin.

The SWAH has the shortest waiting time from triage to treatment starting in all of Northern Ireland. The time spent by those in the SWAH ED waiting to be discharged home was three hours and 49 minutes at last December – marking an increase of 19 minutes from December, 2021.

At the SWAH ED, from arrival to discharge 1,526 people spent under four hours in the ED, 1,230 people spent between four and 12 hours, while 518 people spent over 12 hours in the department.

All of these figures were up on those from December, 2021.

Overall, last December saw 62,350 attendances at EDs in Northern Ireland – 6,715 (12.1 per cent) more than in December 2021 (at 55,635).