Island 'not immune' from A&E pressures
GUERNSEY is not immune to the pressures facing accident and emergency departments in England, despite waiting times at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital being far less, a lead general practitioner in A&E has said.
Since 2009, the number of people attending A&E at the PEH has gone up from an average of 15,000 to 17,481 in 2014 – about 50 extra patients a week.
But despite the added pressure, Dr Mat Dorrian, praised staff for still providing a good service and keeping waiting times at a reasonable length.
NHS figures showed waiting times in England between October and December were the worst for a decade, with 92.6% of patients being seen within four hours – the target is 95%.
'It was carnage in the UK and sometimes you had some patients waiting in trolleys along the corridors for 10 hours,' said Dr Dorrian.
'We can confidently say that's not the picture in our A&E, but you can't compare figures directly.'
