A&E patient delays ‘not good enough’ says Sandwell Hospital boss

It comes as dozens of operations were cancelled and thousands of patients kept waiting for hours in A&E

The trust that runs the hospital missed targets for both A&E waiting times and cancelled operations in January – with chief executive Toby Lewis admitting performance was not good enough.

In a report to board members, Mr Lewis said: “The unacceptable delays for emergency care continue, and we need to continue to assess our route to improvement, and to sustaining safety.”

Below

A total of 37 operations were cancelled during the month as the trust struggled with a lack of beds due to intense winter pressures.

Meanwhile only 82.5 per cent of A&E patients were seen within four hours – way below the national NHS target of 95 per cent.

The trust that runs Sandwell Hospital had set itself the goal of having 95 per cent of A&E patients seen within four hours by March.

It has not met the national standard, set by the Government, for more than two years, and looks almost certain to fall short of meeting the target this month.

Cancelled

Meanwhile 3,249 patients were kept waiting in A&E longer than four hours in January.

The number of cancelled operations was put down to the lack of beds at the trust’s two hospitals, Sandwell General and City Hospital.

A total of 17 were cancelled due to ‘increased emergency demand’, trust board papers showed.

Three operations were cancelled for a second time due to ‘lack of beds secondary to exceptional urgent care demand’.