Yorkshire hospitals in A&E warning as waiting times rise

Hospital trusts in parts of Yorkshire have warned of up to 12-hour waiting times in emergency departments.

Patients should only attend A&E if they faced "a genuine, life-threatening situation", said the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT).

Latest figures from the trusts show a 14.2% increase in A&E attendances compared with the same period in 2021.

Dr Andrew Lockey, from Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said demand was the worst he had ever seen.

WYAAT represents six NHS hospital trusts: Airedale District Hospital; Bradford Teaching Hospitals; Calderdale & Huddersfield; Harrogate & District; Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Mid Yorkshire Hospital.

Dr Lockey, an emergency medicine consultant, said people attending emergency departments for non-life threatening reasons were causing "overwhelming pressure" on services.

"We are trying to deliver our best service to people and trying to treat emergency problems but it's getting close to boiling point," he said.

"We are able to deliver a safe service at the moment but if things increase any further then that will be in serious doubt."

He said at Calderdale, there had been a 50% increase on the previous year in the number of patients attending the emergency department.

"If you come to our department you'll get immediately seen and assessed and that's designed for people with immediate life-threatening problems.

"The flip side is if you don't have an emergency problem, the likelihood is you will wait for several hours and be redirected to where you need to be."

He said while the current rise in Covid cases was not as bad in terms of serious illness, it was still "tipping some" patients over edge and that was adding to pressures.

Dr Lockey said if people were unsure which healthcare service they needed they should call NHS 111 for advice.

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