Express & Star

COMMENT: Half-day delays at Walsall Manor Hospital are a disgrace

It is outrageous that more than 1,000 patients waited in excess of 12 hours at Walsall Manor Hospital's A&E department before they were seen.

Published

To put this into context, imagine arriving at hospital in pain at 8am and not receiving medical attention until 8pm.

Last year's figure was more than the previous two years combined, while more than 9,000 people waited for more than four hours before they were dealt with.

The thought of the wait itself is agonising. Quite frankly these are statistics that would shame a third world country.

This is a well equipped hospital in the heart of one of the region's major towns.

The trust that runs it is in special measures following an inspection earlier this year, which - unsurprisingly - raised concerns about the A&E department.

Sadly prolonged waiting times are nothing new at Walsall Manor, with the trust having previously been fined on numerous occasions for failing to meet targets.

We appreciate that those in charge are doing all they can to remedy a dire situation, and that staff at the hospital are working hard to deal with patients in what are sure to be challenging circumstances.

Taking extra patients from Staffordshire is no doubt adding to the workload.

However, it is impossible to escape the fact that even among some of the shocking stories we hear about poor performance in the NHS, these figures stand out like a sore thumb.

Expecting people to sit in a hospital waiting room for half a day is clearly not good enough.

Across the region the Stafford Hospital scandal is still fresh in everyone's memory. It is imperative that NHS bosses learn from the multitude of mistakes that were made there.

But delays of this nature do little to reassure the paying public that the NHS is equipped to provide a high quality service.

It is easy to blame the government and call for more cash, but the blame game does not get us anywhere, particularly where issues of patient safety are concerned.

What is needed as a matter of urgency is a clear focus on improving the situation.

The fact that the accepted waiting time in A&E departments is four hours is nothing short of a national disgrace.

Waiting times of treble that amount should simply not occur under any circumstances.

This must not be allowed to happen again anywhere in the country.

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