Hospital children's ward may go to help A&E in Staffordshire

Royal Stoke bosses have declared ward 218, a paediatric unit, has been 'underutilised' with just four out of 28 beds being typically used.

They are now considering changing its use to essentially expand its A&E department, which has fallen well below waiting time targets in recent months.

Although some have claimed the ward has already been shut.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Royal Stoke, stated no decision had been made yet but also confirmed no children were present in the ward at the moment.

Liz Rix, chief nurse, said: "The Trust continues to be extremely busy and in circumstances like this it simply doesn't make sense to have empty beds.

"Ward 218 has been underutilised for some time with just four out of 28 beds in regular use so it is sensible to accommodate these within other children's areas.

"No final decisions have been made about exactly how and when the space will be used other than this will be on the basis of need.

"The public can support the hospital and reduce the pressures on our services through responsible use of A&E and use your local pharmacy, GP, Walk in Centre or NHS 111."

It comes after the Shugborough ward at County Hospital was closed in May 2015 as paediatrics were moved to Royal Stoke - a move which prompted hospital campaigners to hold a vigil at the Stafford site.

More recently the children's A&E at County Hospital was closed and has still not fully reopened, with only minor injuries being admitted. This has led to an increase in the number of Stafford children being forced to go up to Stoke for treatment, which was already high with County's A&E not being 24 hours.

The latest plan has prompted concerns parents in the town will suffer again and face even further travels if Royal Stoke struggles to accommodate children from now on.

Support Stafford Hospital campaigner Jan Kelly said: "There are currently no empty paediatric beds in Royal Stoke with very little movement expected during the day.

"Children from Stafford now face going even further than Royal Stoke if they need admission. This will cause untold misery for sick children, more stress and possible financial hardship for Stafford families. No notification of this has been announced so it will come as a huge shock to parents whose children should have been admitted this week."

Figures for September showed one in three patients waited more than four hours to be dealt with in A&E.

While six people waited 12 hours on a trolley to be admitted.