Sandwell Hospital bosses aim to tackle A&E struggles
Bosses at a Black Country hospital trust will aim to tackle long-running problems with A&E waiting times this summer which have seen it fail to meet the national target over the last 18 months.
The trust which runs Sandwell Hospital is desperate to address its struggles with getting patients seen within four hours.
Thousands have been kept waiting in A&E, with the average number of patients seen within the NHS target time languishing at 87 per cent - well below the 95 per cent target.
Waiting times remain a problem following the end of winter when patient numbers at Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital have begun to fall.
During April, the most recent figures available, just 85 per cent were seen within four hours.
Bosses at the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust have recognised they must do better over A&E waiting times and are attempting to improve performance by enacting a 'recovery plan'.
Trust chief executive Toby Lewis was unequivocal last month when he told board members the situation had to change.
Chiefs are aiming to meet the 95 per cent benchmark by next March.
Changes which have been brought in, as of this week, include having senior staff on duty in A&E up to 10pm to help manage the flow of patients.
Chief operating officer Rachel Barlow said: “As part of our improvement plan to reduce waiting times in our emergency departments we have made a number of commitments to safely reduce waiting.
"These include where we currently see patients for initial assessment within 17 minutes, we will be aiming to reduce this to within 15 minutes, and all major patients will be seen by a clinician within 60 minutes rather than the current standard of 69 minutes. All patients will have a clinical plan within two hours.
“Furthermore, there will be extended day support in both our emergency departments, which means senior management will be active on the units up until 10pm each night."
The changes come after Mr Lewis said last month: "If we were running any other kind of business and we had a key target it would be a big deal if parts of the organisation said let’s not talk about the target. We need to make it unacceptable and have a need to focus on that target."
