PATIENTS at Crosshouse Hospital are facing chronic waiting times as the country’s NHS chaos reaches crisis point.

Health bosses have admitted the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department experienced high demand over last month and into January.

New official figures show that NHS Ayrshire and Arran were underperforming across all four, eight and 12 hours waiting times in December.

They missed they 95 per cent target of getting patients discharged within four hours by 2.1 per cent.

Sources have told the times the A&E Department in Crosshouse is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers of people coming through the doors - with some patients waiting through the night for a bed.

A spokeswoman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said while demand for services has been “higher than normal”, the hospital is coping.

She said: “NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Emergency Departments have been experiencing a high demand for care over the holiday period. While we have had a higher than normal number of people seeking unscheduled care, patient safety has been maintained and our staff are coping with the increased number of patients.

“Patients are attending our Emergency Departments for different reasons, including slips and trips, respiratory difficulties, and flu-like illnesses.

“Our staff have worked exceptionally hard to ensure patients have received a high level of care.

“Any patient waiting transfer to a bed in a ward overnight is kept in a cubicle or room within the Emergency Department and then transferred to a ward when appropriate.”

MSP Jamie Greene said that these figures are just another reminder that GPs surgeries and hospitals are not safe in the hands of the nationalist government and he called on the SNP Government to get a grip on the situation.

On Christmas Eve 92.9 percent of patients were seen within the accepted waiting time, falling short of the 95 percent target. However a week later, on New Year’s Eve they fared even worse slipping to 86.7 percent.

But it’s not just in the A&E department that NHS Ayrshire and Arran is struggling. Figures released by the BBC show that in Planned Operations and Care the health board fell short of the 90 percent target of patients waiting less than 18 weeks, scoring 74.3 percent.

In the BBC figures NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s A&E department was meeting the national target, but the figures did not go beyond November.

A spokeswoman for NHS Ayrshire & Arran said: “We are committed to providing safe and effective treatment for our patients in as timely a way as possible. It is with regret that we have not achieved the 18 Weeks Referral to Treatment1 Guarantee for some patients. We sincerely apologise to all of our patients who have had to wait longer than they should for their planned treatment.

“Current vacancies in our consultant and specialists’ workforce is affecting our ability to provide routine patient appointments within set time frames.

“We are also experiencing increased demand across a range of our service specialties which means we also have to recruit additional medical consultants. Urgent patient referrals are prioritised and offered appointments within guaranteed timeframes.

“We have taken steps to maximise our recruitment process, such as advertising NHS Ayrshire & Arran as an attractive place to work, using social media and our website.

“We continue to do all we can to reduce our waiting times.”