Shropshire Star

Health bosses are working to stop ambulance queues

Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin health board says it is doing all in its power to manage the crisis of ambulance crews queuing outside its hospitals.

Published

Trust board members said at a meeting on Thursday that the board was working with all its partners to ease the pressures which include not only getting people "in through the front door" but discharging them into the community.

Non executive director, David Lee, said ambulances were not mobile accident and emergency cubicles and he said that national guidelines were that handovers should be within 15 minutes and that corridor care for patients was not acceptable.

"We have bought into those guidelines but we can not see that we can achieve that in the near future," he said.

Chief operating officer of SATH, Nigel Lee said all partners were looking at the percentage of patients that could be managed without having to send an ambulance - a hear and treat response.

See and treat, with the ambulance service able to treat patients without the need for hospital was also being looked as well as how ambulance crews could be supported by community services in that.

"We are also looking at rapid response to prevent admission. There has to be an increased focus in ambulance pathways."

The meeting heard that there had also been a sharp rise in the number of patients in the hospital that were fit for discharge but were unable to leave hospital because of a lack of support available to them. This could prove to be a problem during what was going to be a tough winter season.

Nigel Lee said: "There are patients that are medically fit but need care and support. We are trying to address the problem, working to discharge patients away from our wards when we have so much demand at the front door."

Trust chair, Dr Catriona McMahon, said: "Every part of the health system is stretched by the same issues, vaccination issues, staffing, sickness for instance.

"We can't say to Shropcom or the councils, 'sort it out' because they are in the same situation as us. It is challenging and I wish it was otherwise. There is no quick solution."