AYRSHIRE health chiefs say that data claiming a patient at Crosshouse Hospital had had to wait five days to be treated was incorrect.

Figures released by Public Health Scotland following a freedom of information request had indicated that one patient waited 122 hours to be seen at the A&E department at Crosshouse.

However, NHS Ayrshire and Arran now says that the 122-hour wait was an "error" in the statistics, and that the longest patient wait during 2023 was 71 hours.

Jacqueline Nicol, site director at University Hospital Crosshouse said: "NHS Ayrshire & Arran apologise to any patient who has to wait longer than the target four-hour period for either discharge or transfer to an appropriate setting from our Emergency Departments (EDs).

"Regarding data for 2023, an initial error suggesting there had been a five day wait for a patient in our University Hospital Crosshouse emergency department has been discovered and corrected.

"The longest wait during 2023 was 71 hours, which is still much longer than we would aim for our patients to be awaiting discharge or transfer."

A spokesperson for the health board added: "Each patient attending our EDs is triaged on arrival and clinical teams prioritise our patients based on their clinical need.

"Our staff continuously review and manage risk and assess for harm associated with prolonged waits, and ensure that all patients receive any required treatment while they are waiting for transfer to a more appropriate setting.

"We are fully committed to ensure that those with emergency and urgent needs are treated as quickly as possible alongside those patients who have been waiting for the longest period."