No end in sight to age old problem of delays in A&E

THE latest crisis in A&E comes despite a major overhaul of the hospital's emergency care system which has taken years to bring in.

Management consultants were drafted in and officials looked at ways of solving one of the biggest sources of discontent among patients.

But with hundreds of beds needing to be shed by next year ready for services to move into the area's slimmed-down hospital, executives are running out of time to reduce the delays.

Initiatives introduced in the past year include a frail elderly care unit to rescue the sickest pensioners from the queues, an urgent care centre staffed by GPs and nurse specialists and better services in the community to keep people's long-term illnesses under control so they don't need to be taken to hospital as emergencies.

But the unit which sees 100,000 people a year consistently fails to hit a target that 98 per cent of them must be treated and sent home or admitted to a bed within four hours of their arrival. In February it stood at 94.4 per cent.

For several months now the trust has been reporting that problems recruiting middle-grade doctors is resulting in reduced medical cover overnight and longer delays.

And officials add that the new systems have yet to fully bed in.

Ian Syme, co-ordinator of pressure group North Staffordshire Healthwatch, said: "I am bemused why this keeps happening despite all the initiatives and reports.

"Are we having these waits because the hospital needs to shed beds for the Fit for the Future programme, or have they got rid of staff without telling anyone about it?"

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503368/s/140c3799/l/0L0Sthisisstaffordshire0O0Cnews0Cend0Esight0Eage0Eold0Eproblem0Edelays0EE0Carticle0E3429940A0Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

Global terrorism Environmental sustainability Credit cards Job hunting West Ham United Self-catering