Shropshire health bosses meet NHS managers about A&E performance
Health bosses have met NHS managers about concerns that the county's A&E performance are among the worst in the country.
Representatives from Shropshire's health groups, including Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust (SATH), and Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), attended a meeting in London yesterday.
They were summoned along with other badly performing areas amid concern over growing waiting times and staffing problems.
Jenny Fullard, senior communications and engagement manager for Shropshire CCG, said: "Local health and social care partners are working closely together to mitigate the workforce challenges that we know impact on our A&E delivery times.
"As part of our winter plans we will be commissioning a range of support to help reduce pressure on our hospitals and reduce delays for patients waiting to be discharged.
"Our priority is always to ensure our patients receive a quality and safe service.
“We continue to work towards finding a long term solution to our A&E performance, through redesigning our emergency care services locally. The pressures on our A&E services at the moment highlight that no change is not an option, and we are keen to hear local people’s views on ways we can deliver better emergency care.”
Debbie Kadum, chief operating officer at SATH admitted the trust is facing difficulties but said staff are focussed on providing the best care possible.
She said: “It is no secret that our emergency departments are under pressure.
"In addition to increasing patient numbers, this is due mainly to an insufficient number of consultants and middle grade doctors in our EDs.
"It is for this very reason that we are looking at how we deliver emergency services in the county, through the NHS Future Fit process, to ensure we can provide the best care possible for the people of Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.
“In August, we saw almost 10,500 people in our EDs – that is an average of more than 330 people every day. More than three out of four of those patients were seen and treated, admitted or discharged within four hours. We are working with our partners in health and social care to improve this figure, but our first priority is to ensure that those attending our EDs receive the appropriate care.”
