Health chiefs have issued an apology to patients who were forced to wait for hours at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s A&E department, after reports that the emergency room was ‘overloaded’.

Patients in the Capital have been urged not to attend A&E unless their condition is life-threatening, with health bosses citing ‘unprecedented and prolonged levels of demand’ on services. Dozens packed into the full emergency department this week and were forced to wait hours to be seen by a triage nurse. A backlog also saw up to five ambulances queued outside.

It comes amid claims that severe pressure on emergency room sees paramedics ‘reluctant’ to take patients to A&E.

A staff nurse at the ERI told the Evening News: “We are doing our best but we are overloaded and have to give priority to critical care so others end up waiting long periods. We only have 36 beds here. I’ve seen patients waiting many hours, more than a day. We have blocked beds on wards with people ready to go home but families can’t get the social care needed at home. It’s been a struggle for many months with staffing and resources. Our capacity is stretched on a regular basis to the point the waiting room is full. People could already have waited hours for the ambulance by that point.”

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