Health bosses outline work to tackle hospital problems – and review over number of deaths
Health bosses have said they are working to improve A&E waiting times in Shropshire – as well as looking at a rise in the number of patients dying in the emergency departments.
Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust's (SaTH) board meeting heard from chief executive Louise Barnett, who said there had been progress in improving the situation at both Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Hospitals' A&E departments.
But she said there was a long way to go – and added that pressure on services had been "very significant in recent months".
It comes as the health services have faced major challenges, with a combination of factors leading to more patients requiring help, and overwhelming capacity across the country.
The board also heard that a review is being undertaken to look at the reasons for an increase in the number of patients dying at the trust's emergency departments (ED) – particularly Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH)
SaTH's medical director John Jones briefed board members on a paper that outlined the rise – from 73 deaths in the third quarter of 2021/22 to 139 for the same quarter in 2022/23.
The paper adds that emergency department deaths at RSH in the third quarter of 2022/2023 have "more than doubled for the same quarter 2021/2022".
Ms Barnett said: "We have obviously been facing quite a challenging number of months in terms of pressure on our services and that is right across the board, and pressure in terms of urgent emergency care has been very significant, and of course that makes it even more challenging in terms of elective and other services.
"However, we have been working hard to prioritise all aspects of care so that we do focus on and support those patients who are waiting for planned care and treatment, patients on their cancer pathway, and also all diagnostics support and outpatients, which are important, so it brings a balance to that agenda.
"So it is positive, we are making strides in that area. We have invested in a number of ways, both in terms of workforce and estates changes as well and we are seeing some improvements.
"We still have a long way to go, we are not yet achieving the standards we would expect to provide for our communities but we are definitely making some inroads now which is encouraging."
The paper presented by Mr Jones said that the review of the increase in people dying in A&E would look at a number of factors "including a potential link with the increased length of time patients are in the department and a review of co-morbidities and reason for attendance".
He said: "The other one we are looking at really carefully is anything relating to ED. It is one of those areas you immediately flag because of what we know about the way our EDs have been able to function for a long time at the moment in relation to handover delays and delayed discharges for medically fit patients, so whenever something is connected to ED we look at it very carefully."
He added: "If you look at the number of deaths in ED, in the same quarter compared to the previous year it was significantly higher. "
Mr Jones said that their aim was to find out if there was something that could be done to improve the situation.
He said: "Our primary objective is to explore are there things we should be doing to prevent deaths?"
He added: "We will get to a point where we are confident, if there is a problem with quality of care we provide or if something else is influencing that."
