A “WINTER meltdown” at hospitals struggling to cope with thousands of patients seeking help amid unprecedented levels of illness has led to demands that accident and emergency facilities are urgently brought back to Vale of Leven Hospital.

Patients and their families from Dumbarton and the Vale reacted angrily after scenes – described as “horrendous” – were reported at A&E departments at some Glasgow hospitals and at the Royal Alexandra in Paisley.

The Facebook page run by local campaign group Save the Vale was inundated with posts from people complaining bitterly about waits of eight hours or more before they or family members were seen by doctors or admitted to hospital.

As the scale of the situation became apparent, Jane Grant, the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, issued an apology to those patients who had experienced lengthy waits.

She said: “We accept that a number of our patients have waited longer than we would have liked.”

On Facebook, many said they could see hard-pressed NHS staff were struggling to look after people struck down by illness, many of them elderly and infirm.

One woman summed up the anger by posting: “Wards should never have been shut at the Vale in the first place. Times like this show we need this hospital.”

Meanwhile, a Tullichewan woman, whose 70-year-old father was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties and pains in his chest, has hit out at the eight hour delay he experienced before being admitted to a ward at the RAH.

Mhairi Fraser was left upset and angry at the time it took for her dad James Campbell to be given a bed at the RAH after being taken by ambulance to the hospital from his home in Haldane on Tuesday of last week.

And when she arrived with James she was taken aback because the place was packed with queuing ambulances and trolleys with patients crammed into corridors.

Mhairi, 47, told the Reporter: “My dad was very distressed because he was having difficulties breathing – but we had no idea it would take that length of time for him to be admitted.

“I was very angry and found the situation quite worrying, to be honest.

“The ridiculous thing is that my dad lives only two minutes away from Vale of Leven Hospital – we need this hospital back to full capacity.”

Jackie Baillie MSP, who has campaigned vigorously for facilities to be retained at the Vale of Leven, accused the SNP of presiding over an NHS “winter meltdown”.

She added that the experience of Mhairi and James was one of many disappointing stories about long waits at Accident and Emergency at the RAH.

Ms Baillie said: “Waiting hours for an ambulance to show up or waiting hours at A&E to be seen and treated is difficult when you are unwell. For many who require admission, waiting for a hospital bed, stuck on a trolley in a corridor, is not the standard anyone should expect from the NHS.

“Our nurses, doctors and paramedics work very hard to take care of us, but it is clear they are not supported or properly resourced to do the job.

“Whilst there is rising demand, the Scottish Government and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde cannot keep cutting bed numbers and reducing the budget for winter pressures without consequences for patients.

“As a result their treatment time guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on.”

“What we need is improved capacity and I have long called for more services to be provided at the Vale of Leven hospital and at the very least an A&E provided on the north of the river.”

Jim Moohan, chairman of the Hospitalwatch group which is campaigning to protect the remaining services at Vale of Leven Hospital, said travelling to the RAH from Dumbarton and the Vale was a “living nightmare” and would continue to be so.

He added: “I fully sympathise with Mhairi and James. They should never have been put in that position.

“The important point is that if they had got stuck in a road block, or if there had been a bridge closure, the outcome could have been much worse because we know there have been tragedies en route from West Dunbartonshire to the RAH.”

Many people with experiences like Mhairi and James took to the Facebook – in particular the page of pressure group Save the Vale – to report their own difficulties, with the majority expressing disgust that there was no A&E department at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Nikky Hall said: “It’s times like this that we need a fully functioning hospital. All hospitals over greater Glasgow and Clyde are under so much pressure. It’s shocking that the Vale is not fully functioning.

And Lindsey Mcphail posted: “Wards should never have been shut at the Vale in the first place. Times like this show we need this hospital.”

Meanwhile, Christine Stokes paid tribute to the Vale staff: “Hats off to all staff at the vale they do a great job. Wards and other departments need to be reopened to help stop this happening.”

Mr Moohan called on all political parties to get behind Hospitalwatch in their campaign. He said: “We are encouraging all political parties to be at one with us. We need unity to stop the rot and change the course of direction. Political parties have an obligation to stand with us on this.

“We are insisting we are part of the consultations to bring back A&E to Alexandria. There is a need and a just cause for it.

“We are totally supportive of A&E to be returned, and what we require is for all the political parties to kick the same door that we’re kicking and beat the same drum.”

Meanwhile, Greater Glasgow and Clyde said its hospitals, like every other hospital in Scotland, were very busy and were experiencing winter pressures from the flu, respiratory infections and norovirus.

A spokeswoman said: “At this busy time we are reminding people to use their emergency services appropriately and only to use emergency departments for serious injuries and major emergencies.

“Our minor injuries units at West Glasgow, Stobhill, Victoria and Vale of Leven Hospitals are the best place for the rapid treatment of minor injuries, including sprains and cuts and broken bones.”

Health secretary Shona Robison said: “Our £22.4 million winter funding, the highest amount in any one year, will continue to be invested in boards throughout winter to help them cope with pressures. Scottish Government ministers, clinicians and senior officials are continuing monitor the situation closely and keep in contact with boards to fully understand and assist with the pressures they are under.

“It is important for patients to be aware that while health boards continue to take all appropriate steps to respond to increased demand in line with their winter plans – which may include some deferral of non-urgent elective surgery – there is no blanket cancellation of non-urgent elective procedures for the month of January as is the case in England.”