A rise in patients at a Suffolk hospital has seen some waiting up to 16 hours to be seen, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

The East Anglian Daily Times report:

PATIENTS at West Suffolk Hospital have spent up to 16 hours in A&E before being discharged or moved to another department, according to new figures.

Hospital bosses yesterday said the emergency unit, which is facing ever increasing numbers of patients, has developed a detailed action plan to cut waiting times and improve patient experience – including the building of a six-bed clinical decision unit.

According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act, 16 people spent in excess of 12 hours at West Suffolk’s A&E before being sent home or moved last year. The longest spell in the unit in Bury St Edmunds was 16 hours and 18 minutes.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.