The number of people waiting over 12 hours to be seen in A&E has risen since 2017.

In 2017, 51 of 28,451 people were waiting upwards of 12 hours.

This increased to 2021 when 595 people were waiting over 12 hours out of 29,587 patients.

The data comes from a written Tynwald question to Health and Social Care Minister Lawrie Hooper. It includes the total time that the patient was in the department, meaning triage, waiting time, assessment and treatment.

It also includes time waiting for a bed to become available if the patient was admitted.

The data doesn’t include patients who left before being seen.

Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh asked the question.

He told the Isle of Man Examiner: ‘It’s very revealing to see how much it has increased.

‘It’s risen by a significant amount which is worrying, but I’m not saying the system is broken.

‘It could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps in triage, there are more non-urgent matters and they’re being able to wait.

‘Someone with a torn toe might be made to wait longer than someone having a heart attack – that’s understandable.

‘There may well be a viable explanation for this.’

A spokesperson from Manx Care explained some of the reasons behind longer wait times.

They said: ‘This is a multifactorial issue – firstly, the emergency department was designed in 1998, and built in 2003 to cater for approximately 18,000 patients per year. The actual numbers per year are currently 38,000 – 40,000.

‘We have secured some funding to make improvements to the infrastructure, and these are in the planning stages at present.’

Manx Care also described how the data on how long people spend in the emergency department could be skewed by situations where patients are dealt with for a few hours in the department instead of being sent to the hospital.

While care for patients who are expected to be staying under 24 hours is sometimes given in a clinical decision Unit elsewhere, the Isle of Man emergency department does not currently have a unit of this type, though this forms part of their ‘potential infrastructure improvement’.

Alongside the increase in the longest wait times, eight- to 12-hour waits have also increased from 561 in 2017 to 1,200 last year.

Those waiting four to eight hours saw only a small rise from 6,422 to 7,954.

However, the number of people waiting under four hours has decreased.

In 2017, 21,417 people were waiting under four hours but in 2021, only 19,838 patients waited for that time.

Staffing levels and the number of hospital beds were also given as reasons for long wait times by Manx Care’s spokesperson.

They said: ‘The emergency department is often subject to delays in transfer of patients to in-patient wards due to a lack of available beds in the hospital. This means that patients who would normally be admitted to a ward are cared for in the emergency department until a bed becomes available.

‘It should be noted that safe staffing levels in the emergency department are maintained, however, due to staff shortages at times we have to limit the number of patients who can be treated and cared for in the emergency department.

‘We are addressing these shortfalls, and have recently recruited a number of newly qualified and experienced nurses to the team.’

Despite this, Manx Care says that it is able to use data to accurately predict busy periods and bring in specialised consultants for that time.

‘This ensures that a senior consultant reviews all patients who may require admission, helping to confirm diagnosis and speeding up the process, meaning that those requiring admission are admitted more quickly, and those that can be treated and discharged safely following treatment are identified earlier and treated more quickly.’

Meanwhile, the number of complaints, measured over a similar period, has also risen.

Rushen MHK Juan Watterson submitted a written Tynwald question asking Mr Hooper how many complaints were lodged regarding health and social care services in each of the last five years.

In 2017/18, 393 were lodged, which increased to 380 in 2021/22.

Mr Wannenburgh said that his question was ‘prompted by complaints from constituents.’

‘I know a few constituents who have gotten in touch and told me they’ve had to wait extensive periods of time.’