"Delays for my uncle at A&E Crosshouse Hospital"

I am writing to you on behalf of my family, to express our concern about my Uncle's experience last week, when he was taken from his home on Arran by ambulance to be admitted into Crosshouse Hospital on a prearranged admission.

My Uncle is 93yrs old and after arrival at 6.45 pm, it took staff 4.5 hrs to see him about an expected tumour in his leg and 5 hours before being allocated a bed. Luckily my brother and his wife were with him during this period or god knows what would have happened.

It was bad enough my Uncle had to wait 4.5 hours to be seen, but when my brother enquired about the situation, he was told there were 16 others in front of him then later he was told there was 25 in front of him.

What we are concerned about, is that the hospital knew he was coming, they knew about his illness, they knew he was a 93 year old man with hearing, deafness and dementia issues. They knew he would be travelling from Arran by ambulance and they knew he would be admitted. Yet within a few hours, at least 9 others had jumped the queue and were seen before him.

I know there is a need to prioritise patients, we are not complaining about that, but given my Uncle's situation, I would have thought he should have been treated a lot sooner and if this is not the case, then there is something wrong with the system and it should be looked at again.

Today, following a letter of complaint I submitted, similar to the above, I received a telephone call to explain that A&E were extremely busy that night and others were also waiting more than 4 hours and it was denied there was any queue jumping to be seen and that patients were taken on the basis of their injury or illness.

I understand children are prioritised and likewise I think the very elderly and infirm should be given some consideration.