Patient waiting times not being met (From Malvern Gazette)

Patient waiting times not being met

7:30pm Tuesday 5th March 2013 in News

ACCIDENT and emergency departments in Worcestershire are falling dramatically short of key targets for how quickly they treat patients.

The national target is for at least 95 per cent of patients to be seen, treated, discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours of coming to an accident and emergency department.

However in January, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust achieved just 83.94 per cent at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester and 91.55 per cent at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

The latest month’s figures, taking into account admissions until February 16, make even worse reading, with just 79.86 per cent achieved at Worcester and 83.43 per cent at Redditch.

Deputy chief executive Chris Tidman flagged up the figures as a cause for concern in his latest report to board members and said that ongoing Norovirus outbreaks as well as an increase in the severity of emergency admissions was responsible for the decline in performance.

He said the trust had between 20-60 beds affected by Norovirus during the first three weeks of January, with a further outbreak in Redditch at the end of the month seeing as many as 140 beds affected.

Various measures are being put in place to address the concerns, including requests to ambulance staff to ensure patients are “appropriately spread”

across A&E departments.

Harry Turner, chairman of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust board, said it would strive to hit the 95 per cent target but that there were other more important measures by which to judge performance.