Health survey reveals patients' concerns over Shropshire hospital waiting times
Waiting times at the county's hospitals remain a major concern according to survey results published by the national health watchdog.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed the findings of responses from patients using Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Princess Royal Hospital Telford (PRH) – both managed by Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
The surveys assessed the experiences of patients visiting A&E services at the hospitals, as well as urgent treatment centres.
For both services waiting times were judged to be 'worse than expected'.
The findings reflect the problems the trust has been facing over recent months – illustrated when it was revealed in April that Shropshire had the worst 12-hour A&E waits in the entire country.
In the latest surveys the trust scored only 3.2 out of ten for waiting times in A&E, and just 2.7 out of ten for waits at urgent treatment centres.
The trust, which is still in special measures, was judged "about the same" as other hospitals in the other categories for A&E.
Responding to the findings Hayley Flavell, director of nursing at SaTH, said they were aware of the concern and are doing what they can to improve the experience for patients.
She said: “The survey shows that some respondents have raised concerns about waiting times and we would like to reassure them that our trust, alongside our partners, are doing all that we can to reduce them and ensure our patients are seen in the right place at the right time.
“We are listening to patients, and their families, to understand their needs and improve their experience. We continue to invest in improvements to our urgent and emergency care services, however, recognise there is more work to do to improve the experience for everyone.
"Our aim is to provide high quality compassionate care now and in the future.”
