PARAMEDICS at Bury's Fairfield Hospital have been forced to wait for more than 10 hours outside before they can drop off a patient, figures have revealed.
The findings, highlighted in hospitals for the whole of Greater Manchester, showed that the longest wait was 10 hours and 13 minutes at Fairfield.
The turnaround takes into account the time it takes from the moment the ambulance arrives at hospital until it can leave to answer another call.
Prof Matt Makin, Medical Director at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, who run Fairfield Hospital, said:
“We always aim to see and treat patients attending our three emergency departments as quickly as possible but we are finding this a challenge due to the flow of patients in and out of hospitals, particularly ones who are elderly and with complex and chronic health conditions.”
A North West Ambulance Service Spokesperson: “We are continuing to see a high demand for our services right across the region and because these are patients in a serious condition, this in turn impacts on an increase in activity that can unfortunately result in ambulance crews having to wait longer.
“We are working with NHS colleagues and CCGs to address the issue but we do urge the public to support us by only dialling 999 for life-threatening incidents.
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