NURSING leaders have raised concerns over continuing "fundamental" problems in hospitals after Scottish Government troubleshooters were sent into the third casualty department in a matter of months.

A support team was last week sent to the new £842 million South Glasgow University Hospital after it emerged it was the worst-performing for waiting times in Scotland.

It is the third time troubleshooters have been dispatched to hospitals in Glasgow to tackle waiting times since the beginning of the year.

In February a support team was sent into the Royal Alexandra Hospital and a month later it went to the Western Infirmary to try to tackle A&E waiting times.

Anne Thomson, senior officer with the Royal College of Nursing, said: "They have called in the expert team (to South Glasgow) but this is the third time in a matter of months.

"So this isn't about the new hospital, this is a continuation of what has already been happening - there is fundamentally something wrong."

Last week figures showed 78.3% of patients were seen and treated within four hours at South Glasgow University Hospital, well below the target of 95% for accident and emergency departments in Scotland.

Thomson said the A&E facilities at the hospital were "fabulous" and that staff had not yet raised any concerns over patient safety.

She added: "However I think there are major concerns about what is lying behind the 'front doors' of A&E and it would appear there aren't enough beds for the type of population needs.

"These expert teams that are coming in are really trying to find ways of getting people out of hospital as quickly as possible to release beds."

Thomson said the next couple of weeks would be critical in assessing whether the issue would be resolved at the South Glasgow hospital.

"Is it teething problems or is it something much more fundamental?," she said. "How long do you allow those teething problems to remain before you admit there is a bigger problem?"

Robert Calderwood, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said a number of changes had already been made to enhance 'patient flow' through the South Glasgow hospital.

He added: "However it is taking longer than expected for an improved A&E performance to be achieved and we therefore welcome the assistance of Scottish Government colleagues who will work with our senior managers and clinicians to use their combined expertise to identify further measures to assist with the bedding-in of services and systems and to achieve the improvements in patient flow required."