EMERGENCY departments are facing continued pressure after a weekend of chaos that saw patients forced to wait hours for an ambulance and lengthy delays for hospital treatment.
The Scottish Sun were told around 240 patients across three NHS Lanarkshire hospitals waited upwards of 14 hours to be seen by medics.
Some waited over seven hours to move from an ambulance to an A&E bed, whilst others were treated in the ambulance cab.
It is understood the entire ambulance fleet for the health board was left queued outside one of its three hospitals, unable to drop off patients or respond to 999 calls.
Some 14 crews were queued outside a Lanarkshire hospital waiting to offload at an emergency department over this weekend.
It is also understood the wait for a hospital bed was 30 hours last night rising to 50 hours at the weekend.
In Glasgow, an elderly patient lay on the floor in agony following a suspected stroke for over 21 hours due to ambulance delays, a GP has revealed.
Dr Abha Paulina, from Glasgow, said the 89-year-old woman he had visited on a house call had spent all night crying in pain due to a possible broken pelvis.
But when the doctor asked the OAP’s son to call 999, they were told her injuries were not an emergency and the current ambulance waiting time in Glasgow was over 21 hours.
A source claims senior medics at NHS Lanarkshire raised concerns with new chief executive Professor Jann Gardner in order to declare a major incident for the troubled health board.
However, the health insider claims requests for further contingency plans have been declined.
Health bosses at NHS Lanarkshire confirmed their three hospitals at Monklands, Whishaw and Hairmyres are seeing more patients due to the bad weather.
Judith Park, NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services, said: “Unfortunately, we continue to see sustained pressure across our three acute hospitals with an increase in the number of people attending due to the icy weather.
“We are working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to ensure patients can be transferred into our care as quickly as possible while recognising the pressure both our staff and the SAS staff are dealing with on a daily basis.
“All patients who present as an emergency are treated in line with their clinical needs and our staff are prioritising those patients with the greatest need.
“We are asking people to help us treat and admit or discharge patients attending our A&Es as quickly as possible by thinking about whether they need to attend A&E or can they access an alternative service including NHS 24 on 111 which is available day and night.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “Across Scotland, we’ve faced significant pressures over the weekend which have continued into this week, and hospital turnaround times continue to be a challenge.
"We would ask the public to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency, and for everything else they should call NHS24 on 111.”
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were approached for comment.
Have you been caught up in the A&E chaos. Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5200
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