FOR any machine to work, all parts need to be operational, with every one performing its function efficiently.

Organisations should echo this, with each department in sync with the rest and working in tandem to produce results.

If this analogy was to be applied to our health service, however, the machine would be sent off for repairs.

The latest cog in the machine to start spluttering is ambulance handovers – and the figures reveal yet another reason why our hospitals are struggling.

More than 100 patients had to wait more than an hour to be handed over from an ambulance to the hospital.

It is bad enough patients often wait for an ambulance in the first place, with response times frequently missing targets. Then people are left in the back of one when they should be getting treatment in the hospital.

The situation is a vicious circle, as those ambulances left waiting to offload patients cannot be put back into use, thus making response time targets even harder to hit.

It feels like yet another indicator of the strain A&E is under, and how it is struggling to cope under the pressure.

More must be done to speed up this process so patients in ambulances receive their treatment as early as possible.

The incentive to improve should be greater, in the knowledge it will also free up ambulances and staff at a time when resources are stretched.