Express & Star

Walsall health boss: Relax A&E waiting target fines

Walsall's health scrutiny boss has announced plans to lobby the Government to relax financial penalties against the town's Manor Hospital for missing targets in the midst of a 'major incident'.

Published

Last week a major incident was declared at the hospital, which has been fined hundreds of thousands of pounds in recent months for keeping patients waiting too long for treatment and missing four-hour Government waiting times in A&E.

Councillor Marco Longhi, chairman of Walsall Council's health and social care scrutiny committee, visited the hospital to see the impact first-hand and has vowed to lobby NHS England and the Secretary of State to relax financial penalties for waiting time breaches at the Manor in times of acute demand.

"This only serves to take funds away from patient care," he said.

He has also vowed to lobby ministers to ensure the hospital receives its fair share of funding for emergency care provision and maternity services as a result of the influx of patients it has had to cope with from Staffordshire, and is seeking cross-party support.

Councillor Longhi visited the Manor on Wednesday, the day before the major incident in the A&E department was downgraded.

If a hospital declares a major incident, it is a sign that things have got exceptionally busy. Surgery had to be cancelled and extra bed space opened following a huge surge in demand.

Councillor Longhi said: "What I observed was heart-warming.

"I heard stories of staff working 14-hour shifts, staff from other departments coming in to help, staff feeling very unwell themselves but soldiering on and staff giving up their planned festivities. It was great to see and great to hear.

"But here's the thing: I'm angry. I'm angry that staff and patients have to go through these traumatic experiences in 2015.

"A hospital declaring a major incident is just one step below having to refuse patients. This is wrong, especially when all the warnings were there, for all to see, a long time ago."

He said he also planned to ask commissioners at the next council health scrutiny meeting whether they are satisfied with GP service provision in Walsall in light of A&E pressures.

Public health watchdog Healthwatch Walsall has also raised concerns after the recent events and plans to meet with hospital bosses.

Other hospitals across the country, including Royal Stoke University Hospital, were also forced to declare a major incident last week. That too was downgraded.

Struggling

It emerged earlier this month that the Manor had been fined almost £500,000 so far this financial year after struggling to hit targets for non-emergency patients being referred and admitted within 18 weeks.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust was also recently fined more than £360,000 by Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group for failing to reach the national target of seeing 95 per cent of people in A&E within four hours from April to October last year.

Walsall Manor has seen more patients coming from Staffordshire over the last few years and the figure is set to further rise in the future. This has also impacted on the A&E where the hospital has been unable to consistently reach the target of 95 per cent of people treated within four hours.

There have been 13,870 emergency admissions during the first six months of this financial year, compared to 13,579 in April to October 2013.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.