ALMOST one in five A&E patients at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital failed to be seen within four hours over the past year.

Just 83.7 per cent of patients who attended A&E in 2017/18 were seen within the target four-hour period.

That figure falls below the national target of 95 per cent and emerged in East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Groups’s annual report.

And 82 patients in East Lancashire had to wait over 12 hours on a trolley, figures for the year between April 2017 and March 2018 have revealed.

East Lancashire’s patients champion Russ McLean described the figure as ‘unacceptable.’

He said: “I’m not surprised at these figures.

“I talk to the chief executive Kevin McGee and patients about waits in A&E all the time.

“It’s unacceptable but I do think the trust have their hands tied behind their backs.

“They have a finite number of beds and bays and I know they’re planning on spending money to increase both.

“Mental health is also an issue as you get patients turning up at A&E because of the shortage of beds in mental health wards.

“I think we also have to remember that with the cold weather in March, it was one of the busiest ever seen.

“I think that the national A&E target of 95 per cent is unrealistic and should be re-looked at.”

But the report revealed that East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) was meeting a national target of 85 per cent of patients receiving their first treatment for cancer within 62 days following an urgent GP referral.

The trust’s figure for 2017/18 was 85.65 per cent.

And the trust also performed above the national target of 92 per cent of patients starting planned operations and care within 18 weeks, achieving a figure of 92.06 per cent.

Natalie Brockie, divisional general manager for emergency medicine for ELHT said: “It is a widely reported fact that many A&E departments across the whole country have found meeting the nationally set target for 2017/18 challenging.

"Despite this, we have continued to deliver safe, personal and effective care, ensuring that patients with the greatest clinical need are seen promptly.

“In line with our winter plan, we work closely with our health and social colleagues and have responded to the demand by introducing new initiatives.

"The creation of a new Respiratory Assessment Unit, so that the significant number of patients with respiratory conditions can be moved more swiftly through the emergency department, has saved over 2000 bed days during its first three months of operation.

“In the past 12 months, the trust has invested over £2 million in two new facilities (the Lancashire Elective Centre and Primrose Chemotherapy Unit) at Burnley General Teaching Hospital. The elective centre allows us to release beds at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital for unplanned admissions relieving pressure on A&E.

“As part of our model ward programme, we actively promote projects such as Red2Green and #StopPjParalysis, both of which assist with faster recovery and discharge times.

“We will continue to work closely with GPs and other local community health services to plan for continued increased demand.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to remind people that by choosing the best, most appropriate care and treatment, they are playing their part in keeping A&E for patients with life and limb threatening conditions and injuries.

"Details about choosing the right service at the right time can be found on our website www.elht.nhs.uk.”