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Walsall Manor fined over A&E delays

Walsall Manor Hospital is being fined more than £37,000 for leaving patients waiting too long in ambulances – as its accident and emergency admissions continue to rise.

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The fine comes after more than 170 ambulances waited longer than half an hour at the department in just one month, the latest figures have revealed.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust saw 2,752 patients arrive by ambulance in July – an increase from 2,565 the month before.

Of these it took between 30 minutes and an hour for the handover of 176 people and in two cases it took longer than 60 minutes. The target is within 15 minutes.

See also: Ambulance crew stuck at West Midlands hospital for eight hours.

The trust says there were some days when more than 100 ambulances arrived at A&E which was 'well above predicted levels'. It now faces a £37,200 fine from the clinical commissioning group. A report to the trust said: "As stipulated in the national contract, £200 will be applied for every handover recorded between 30 and 60 minutes and £1,000 will be applied for any handover over 60 minutes.

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"For July, a fine of £37,200 will be incurred. There were 16 days during the month when more than 90 ambulances arrived at the department with four of these days recording more than 100.

"The trust continues to experience spikes in attendances and these prove particularly problematic in relation to timely hand overs.

"The majority of arrivals in July were between 12pm and 6pm."

See also: Wolverhampton New Cross A&E under siege as numbers soar.

The hospital has already been battling increasing numbers of patients coming from Staffordshire. It is looking to invest in the expansion of the site under £30m plans which include a new critical care unit, A&E revamp and maternity improvements.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust's Ian Baines said: "We are continuing to work hard with West Midlands Ambulance Service to ensure safe and timely handovers and to ensure that patients who use our services are getting the level of care that they need."

"Patients arriving via ambulance are required to be handed over into the care of clinicians at the Trust within 15 minutes. As a Trust we work closely with West Midlands Ambulance Service to ensure that this target is met wherever possible, however, if patients are waiting to be transferred for over 30 minutes or for over 60 minutes, fines may be issued by the CCG under the terms and conditions of the national NHS contract.

"The Trust is continuing to see high levels of attendance at our Accident and Emergency Department which is unfortunately impacting on our ability to meet the handover time. We are continuing to work hard with West Midlands Ambulance Service to ensure safe and timely handovers and to ensure that patients who use our services are getting the level of care that they need."

See also: Walsall Manor deficit spiralling.

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