A&E admissions causing concern

Calls have been made for an overhaul of accident and emergency departments amid claims yesterday by two national bodies that services are in crisis.

The College of Emergency Medicine said A&E units are facing their biggest challenge in more than a decade as departments grapple with “unsustainable workloads” and lack of staff.

Meanwhile the Foundation Trust Network, which represents more than 200 health trusts in England, warned that A&E services were in danger of collapse in six months as a result of “huge pressure”.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt conceded there were “huge pressures” and ministers would deal with it by “better joining up” health and social care.

In Cambridgeshire, while Addenbrooke’s Hospital is still struggling to meet its accident and emergency targets, district hospital Hinchingbrooke has just been called the eighth best in the country at treating emergency patients quickly.

Two years ago, Hinchingbrooke’s emergency department was judged to pose a threat to patient harm. Staff absences were high, and the hospital was at risk of losing junior doctor training posts because of the concerns that were raised.

But a remarkable turnaround in its performance saw it ranked as one of the top 10 emergency departments in the country, coming eighth in the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) table, published last week.

Clare Hawkins, lead nurse for the hospital’s emergency care centre and short stay unit, which was taken over by Circle in February 2012, said: “It’s how you invest in staff, and train them, especially in A&E.

“It’s important that it’s a team approach – a hospital approach. We can’t sort out the front door without sorting out the back door.

“Now we’re seeing 98 per cent of our patients within four hours, considerably higher than the 95 per cent NHS target. This is a huge achievement.”

Addenbrooke’s has not fared as well as Hinchingbooke with its waiting targets.

One of the reasons regulator Monitor placed the hospital in special measures was for failing to treat enough emergency patients in time.

The latest board of directors meeting heard the hospital is moving in the “right direction” and is nearly hitting the national target which requires it to treat 95 per cent of patients within four hours.

A spokesman pointed out that, with 100,000 emergency patients a year, Addenbrooke’s was experiencing unprecedented demand.

He said: “Like emergency departments across the country, we are seeing unrelenting demand for our services.

“We have met our A&E targets for the last six months apart from one month, although this continues to be a significant and daily challenge for us.

“We are seeing just under 100,000 patients per year in our emergency department and this is increasing by more than five per cent a year.

“The College of Emergency Medicine is right to raise its concerns about the future provision of safe and sustainable emergency care.

“We support the need for system re-design, appropriate funding and sustainable working practices that is vital for the delivery of high quality emergency care 24 hours a day.

“We look forward to working with our colleagues across the whole health system to ensure our patients have access to emergency care that is of the highest quality when they need it.”

Gerald Collins, vice-chairman of COPE (Cambridge Older People’s Enterprise), said: “The existing system is all about meeting targets and ticking boxes.

“The causes of delays are that there are too many patients and too little capacity, although I should say that my personal experiences at the department have been positive.”

Ruth Rogers, chairman of Healthwatch Cambridgeshire which ensures care service users’ voices are heard, said: “There’s a lot of pressure on A&E services, and I think that people need to recognise when it is right to go to A&E.

“Clearly with 94.6 per cent we’re not in crisis at Addenbrooke’s, but it’s something we’re monitoring and we’d like to see it higher.”

Source Cambridge News