Sandwell hospitals well behind waiting time target

Around 3,000 people were kept waiting in A&E on average every month as Sandwell General and Birmingham’s City Hospital struggled to get enough people seen on time.

The trust has failed to meet national waiting time targets for more than two years – with bosses admitting performance is not good enough.

A total of 36,380 patients – 83.4 per cent – were left waiting in A&E departments for at least four hours over the past year.

The national NHS target, set by the Government, is to have 95 per cent seen within four hours.

The number of patients who were not seen within that time frame rose in March to 3,582.

That was considerably higher than 12 months earlier when the figure was 2,875.

Sandwell Hospital struggled to cope with intense winter pressures as rising numbers of patients filed into A&E.

In a recent report to board members, the chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, Toby Lewis, described the delays as ‘unacceptable’.

Councillor Elaine Costigan, who is head of public health at Sandwell Council, said the length of time patients were being made to wait was a concern.

She said: “It is worrying that people are having to wait that amount of time.

"I’m sure they are doing everything they can to try and get patients seen much quicker.

“Staff have been amazing and are working as hard as they can but all these four-hour waits in A&E is not acceptable.”

The continued delay with the building of the new Midland Metropolitan Hospital in Smethwick has increased concerns about how Sandwell General and City Hospital will cope, as both will have to run at full capacity for longer than expected.

Bosses admitted this week it could be as late as 2022 before the new hospital opens – four years later than originally planned.

Rachel Barlow, chief operating officer at the trust, said: “We are sorry that patients have waited longer than we would want to receive a diagnosis, discharge or admission.

"All patients are clinically assessed within minutes to reaching us, and are then treated in priority order based on clinical need. We now have the ability to help patients see a GP if that is more suitable for their needs after assessment. "We are working hard to support staff to be able to see patients safely faster, investing in the best equipment, and in staff development to retain skills in our teams. Every effort is being taken to improve further and figures for April show an increase of 3.4 per cent in the number of patients seen within the four hour target, compared to March. We will not be deflected from our aim to meet the national emergency care quality standard.”