HOSPITAL bosses have explained how patients are not experiencing long waits in the back of ambulances waiting to get into A&E.

On Wednesday The Argus reported figures for the week starting December 3 provided by the British Medical Association who told us: “The number of patients at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust who had to wait in the back of an ambulance outside the hospital for between 30 and 60 minutes was 102 with another 10 patients having to do that for more than 60 minutes.”

However, the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has clarified how that is not the case.

Ambulance delays record the time taken for a patient to be formally transferred from an ambulance into a hospital and for the crew to be back on the road.

This includes transferring patients into any wards, such as maternity, not just A&E.

It does not refer to the length of time a patient spends in an ambulance.

When patients arrive by ambulance at A&E they are brought to the emergency department by paramedics.

If there is delay in the formal handover paramedics continue to care for the patient inside the department and not in their ambulances.

The only exception is for infection control reasons – for example to stop the spread of winter vomiting.

We are happy to clarify the situation.