Sandwell Hospital allays fears on A&E closure amid Midland Met delays

Toby Lewis, chief executive of the trust which runs Sandwell Hospital, has been forced to respond amid rumours over the future of the A&E.

The department is eventually due to be scaled down to become an urgent care centre when the Midland Metropolitan Hospital opens, but with the launch of the new site still at least four years away he said no changes were imminent.

Mr Lewis was challenged by the independent Healthwatch group at a recent board meeting.

A record of the meeting said: “Mr Bill Hodgetts from Healthwatch expressed concern around the number of complaints they are receiving in relation to the rumours of the closure of the A&E department at Sandwell Hospital.

“Mr Lewis replied that he was content to meet with Healthwatch to go through and respond to those complaints accordingly.

"He highlighted that with the opening of Midland Met, Sandwell A&E will become a 24-hour Urgent Care Centre.

"Given the delays with the opening of Midland Met, there would be the need for reconfiguration of services.

"However, at the present time, this did not include the closure of the A&E department at Sandwell Hospital.”

The assurance comes after the Express & Star revealed last week the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust has been given seven months to meet national waiting time targets.

Bosses at the trust which runs Sandwell Hospital will aim to have 95 per cent of patients seen within four hours by March.

It represents a huge challenge for the trust, which has not met the national standard at any point in the last two years.

A ‘rapid improvement plan’ has been drawn up in a bid to improve waiting times, including treating patients sent by GPs away from A&E and introducing new staff rotas.

The March deadline comes following talks with NHS Improvement, which aims to ensure patients receive the best care.