Urgent rescue plan needed as A&E delays revealed as worst in country
Nearly 2,000 patients waited more than 12 hours in Shropshire’s A&Es in February, according to NHS figures revealed last week.
The statistics, released for the first time this week by NHS England, show that 1,885 people waited more than 12 hours from arriving at A&E to being admitted, transferred or discharged in Shropshire.
It means one in five patients (21.6%) waited over 12 hours at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals in February and makes the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB the worst-performing area for A&E delays in all of England.
These long A&E waits can have serious consequences for patients. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has warned that “evidence shows delays to care and long waits to admission to hospital increase a patient’s risk of harm and death”, even after they leave A&E.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a rescue plan for local health services, including recruiting more GPs and bringing in a Carer’s Minimum Wage to tackle staff shortages in social care. This would help reduce pressure on overstretched hospitals and ambulance services.
Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said:
“These shocking figures lay bare the appalling extent of A&E delays in Shropshire. People are dying waiting for the emergency treatment they desperately need and that is not fair on patients, not fair on families and not fair on the NHS staff doing their best to save lives.
“Anyone who has been to A&E recently will know how scary the situation has become with corridors and children’s rooms crammed full of patients suffering in pain.
“The Conservative government has ignored warning sign after warning sign and let the NHS crisis spiral out of control.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent rescue plan for our local health services. If patients could see their GP when they need to or get the care they need at home, it would free up hospital resources to treat people far more quickly.”
