A desperate plea has been issued for volunteers to help overstretched medics at an A&E in Paisley.

 

The public has been asked to assist anxious patients waiting hours to be seen by a doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

The call went out a day after it was reported that the accident emergency department was under "significant pressure".

A post on the Scottish Government-funded 'Engage Renfrewshire' Facebook page appealed for people who "enjoy the hustle and bustle of fast paced environments".

It said: "The primary role of the volunteer is to assist patients and relatives who find themselves at A&E for prolonged periods of time; regular updates in communication can help reduce stress and anxiety levels for patients or other family members and enhance the quality of the patient's experience of the A&E department."

Duties include passing messages between medics and patients, escorting patients to and from the X-ray department and offering support to people who are "visibly anxious", the Facebook post said.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which oversees the hospital, regularly fails to meet the waiting time standard of 98% of patients seen and admitted, transferred or discharged from A&E within four hours.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for the health board admitted that the Paisley hospital is under "significant pressure" and many patients waited "far longer than we would want them to".

Labour MSP for the area, Neil Bibby, said: "Volunteers have done and continue to do tremendous and valuable work at hospitals like the RAH but they cannot be a substitute for staff at this critical time when patient numbers are increasing.

"Everyone knows that Accident and Emergency services at hospitals like the RAH are under significant pressure at the moment. In recent weeks we have seen the RAH A&E department stretched to breaking point, operations cancelled because of a lack of beds and there have been a number of unacceptable cases where patients in Paisley have waited more than 17 hours just for a bed.

"Our dedicated and caring NHS staff are doing all they can but they are being overstretched and it is no surprise that health professionals and bodies like the Royal College of Nursing are calling out for more staff to be recruited.

"The Scottish Government must ensure that casualty departments at hospitals like the RAH are properly staffed, something they have completely failed to do in recent weeks.

"That's why I support Scottish Labour's plan for 1,000 extra nurses funded by the mansion tax because I firmly believe this will help hospitals like the RAH."

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “Volunteers provide excellent support in many of our inpatient areas befriending patients and becoming an all important friendly face for patients. In liaison with our clinical teams it was agreed last year that this inpatient volunteering work would be extended to our A&E departments with the RAH being the first site.

“Whilst we have now begun the recruitment process for A&E volunteers it is not envisaged that any volunteers will be in place in the department until well into the Spring as a detailed and robust selection and recruitment processes needs to be carried out.”