Warrington Hospital working hard to get back on track

WARRINGTON Hospital is working hard to get back on track after Government figures revealed waiting times in Accident and Emergency (A&E) were far worse than the national average and one of the worst in the region.
A high demand in A&E during the Christmas New Year period has been blamed by the hospital which says it is now seeing over 90 per cent of patients within four hours – a hospital is deemed to be failing if 95 per cent of patients are left more than four hours.
But Nick Bent, (pictured right) Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South, has reacted angrily saying patients and staff have been let down by Conservative Ministers.
Figures released by Government show that A&E waiting times are the worst since records began, with more people than ever waiting more than 4 hours for treatment in A&E in England. In Warrington, the numbers are far worse than the national average.
Mr Bent commented: “David Cameron and the local Tory MP have badly betrayed NHS patients and staff and only Labour is offering the extra investment needed through bold and fair policies such as the Mansion Tax.”
Since 2004, all A&E patients have had the right to be treated within 4 hours and a hospital is deemed to be failing if more than 95% of patients have to wait more than 4 hours.
But in the week before Christmas, 83 patients had to wait longer than 4 hours in Warrington A&E. For the last week of 2014, a total of 118 patients had to wait more than 4 hours at the town’s hospital. Across these two weeks, 20% of patients had to wait more than 4 hours – four times the 5% target.
During the last quarter of 2014, across the country, an average of 7% of patients had to wait more than 4 hours, with some hospitals having to declare ‘major incidents’ because of a lack of resources to cope with patients.
In Warrington, over 10% of patients had to wait more than 4 hours – again, worse than the national average.
Mr Bent added: “This is a crisis of Cameron’s making because of his broken promises about the NHS. Despite the efforts of our brilliant local NHS staff, people needing A&E in Warrington are getting a worse service than other parts of England and that is just wrong.”
A spokesperson for Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We achieved the 95% A&E target for the whole of 2013-2014, but like many hospitals we’re seeing more patients this year and in general terms those patients are very poorly so need admission to hospital more often.
“Over this year we’ve still seen around 9 out 10 patients within four hours but over the Christmas and New Year period we’ve seen particularly high demand in A&E. We opened extra beds and prioritised our staffing at the start of this week to make sure that we could get patients seen as quickly as possible and admitted to the wards as quickly as possible.
“The A&E team and colleagues across the hospitals are working incredibly hard to provide the very best service to local people and prevent any longer waits than necessary. We’re also working closely with our local Clinical Commissioning Groups to provide more community beds for patients who don’t need to be in hospital.”
The spokesperson added: “It is really important that people choose the right service for their needs. You should only attend A&E if you have a serious health condition or it’s a genuine emergency
“Your local GP, pharmacy and our minor injuries service at Halton provide an excellent service for minor illnesses, ailments and injuries.
“The NHS 111 phone line operates 24 hours a day and can provide advice on treatment if you’re not sure.”