Published Thursday, 26 April 2012
Antrim Area Hospital is falling short of the Department of Health's target. (© Pacemaker)
The number of patients being seen at the A&E in Antrim has risen by nearly 500 in the last month - but only 63% of them were either treated and discharged or admitted within the Department of Health's four-hour target period.
According to the Health Minister, hospitals are required to treat 95% of their patients within that time frame.
Edwin Poots has also stated that no patient should have to wait more than 12 hours to be seen - but 109 patients had to do just that at Antrim Hospital in the last month.
The figures still represent an improvement on the previous month though, when nearly 450 people spent 12 hours waiting in Antrim's A&E.
Northern Ireland has a total of ten consultant-led, round-the-clock A&Es which collectively dealt with nearly 50,000 people in March.
Overall, just 71% were treated within the recommended time frame - a slight improvement on February's figures when less than 69% of patients were seen within four hours.
February's performances were the poorest in more than a year.
But a total of 960 patients still waited over 12 hours before being seen in March.