Thanks paid to NHS staff
HOSPITAL staff have received glowing praise for showing professionalism and dedication under huge pressure over the hectic last few weeks of the year.
Last week Prime Minister Theresa May apologised to NHS patients following reports of delays up and down the country caused by the winter crisis.
Figures obtained by the Observer show that 433 ambulances spent longer than an hour waiting to transfer patients into the emergency department at Royal Blackburn in the last six weeks of 2017, while an additional 1,400 spent between 30 and 60 minutes waiting. These transfers should take 15 minutes under the hospital’s target.
But the area’s NHS workers have been thanked for standing firm in the face of ‘chaos’.
Russ McLean, chairman of the Patient Voices Group, an independent organisation which acts on behalf of patients in East Lancashire, said: “Staff worked through the patients according to their clinical need and I was - as I always am - mesmerised by the professionalism of the staff in the A&E.
“Each and every one of them was polite and engaging to their patients.
“I witnessed, first hand, the camaraderie between the Team and no-one complained at the heavy and relentless workload. They are quite simply a credit to the Trust.”
Jennifer Mohammed, 28, from Accrington, waited for two hours for an ambulance after her son Sami, one, had a bad case of Croup and breathing difficulties.
After being taken to hospital, they waited for another hour before being sent to the specialist children’s area.
She said: “I feel sorry for the staff, it’s really frustrating - It was absolute chaos in the A&E department.
“I have never seen it like that before.
“I really feel for all the doctors and nurses having to work under such pressure, it’s not right.”
Dr Damian Riley, executive medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are aware that at times of peak demand, there may be a large number of 999 ambulances arriving in quick succession and this can lead to a delay in handover patients.
“Due to the number of extremely poorly patients we receive during the winter, ambulance attendances increase significantly.”
However, the Trust said they were not planning to cancel any elective operations in order to manage winter pressures.
Kevin McGee, chief executive of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I am very, very proud of every single member of staff – they have responded to the challenge (which I have no doubt will last for a few weeks more yet) with their usual skill, commitment and importantly, good humour.
“I simply cannot thank them enough.”
Hyndburn MP Graham Jones said: “These are unacceptable delays caused by government who are dismantling the NHS piece by piece.
“It is a fragmented service and for 433 people to wait for over an hour in the back of an ambulance exposes the Tory-caused crisis in the NHS.
“I know local staff are doing their very best to alleviate the problems.
“The buck stops with the Tories, with Theresa May and with Jeremy Hunt. And now they are shutting the walk-in centre in Accrington, things are only going to get a lot worse.”