DoH reveals latest accident and emergency figures

The latest accident and emergency (A&E) figures have been revealed by the Department of Health (DoH).

According to the organisation, 97.5 per cent of patients spent four hours or less in the hospital department, from arrival to either admission, transfer or discharge – a rise of 0.1 per cent on the same time last year, but a fall of 1.1 per cent on the previous quarter.

The statistics also reported there were 4.8 million attendances at all A&Es, a rise of 2.7 per cent on 2007 to 2008’s figure, but a 1.4 decrease on three months previous.

Of the total visits to the hospital departments, almost a quarter (24.8 per cent) required admission, of which 97.1 per cent were placed in a bed within four hours – a rise of 0.3 per cent on the same time last year.

Last month, the DoH’s inpatient waiting times figures found 92.8 patients were waiting under 13 weeks to go to hospital for treatment.