HOSPITAL MISSES TARGETS AS PRESSURE GROWS ON NHS

In 2010 just 1 in 30 faced wait of four hours in A&E. In 2015 number had risen to 1 in 10. Now it is 1 in 6.

ONE in six A&E patients faced a wait of more than four hours as University Hospital Coventry struggles to cope with record demand.

There has also been a worrying decline in the level of cancer treatment hospital patients are receiving in the area.

The figures have prompted the doctors’ union the BMA to say the NHS is at “breaking point” and that many hospitals were struggling to provide effective care.

Hospital bosses here said the A&E figures were reflective of the national picture and that the pressure they were under meant treatment had to be “prioritised” to ensure those who needed urgent care received it.

At the start of 2010 just one in 30 A&E patients at UHCW faced a wait in excess of four hours to be admitted, discharged or transferred. But by the end of 2015 that number had risen to one in 10.

That number rocketed even further in the last quarter of 2016 with one in six waiting in excess of four hours amid one of the worst winters on record in A&E.

According to Government targets, just one in 20 people should be experiencing waits of more than four hours, with a target than 95 per cent should wait less than four hours.

The last time the trust hit that target was in the quarter ending September 2015, with 82.1 per cent waiting less than four hours in the quarter to December 2016.

In February, 87 per cent of people waiting for treatment had been waiting less than 18 weeks, the target is that 92 per cent or more should wait less than 18 weeks. The last time the trust hit the 18 week target was in September 2014, There has also been a sixfold increase in the number of cancer patients waiting more than six weeks for key diagnostic tests - although the hospital’s performance is well within the government target. Patients waiting more than six weeks for one of 15 key diagnostic tests has risen from 0.1 per cent in March 2010 to 0.6 per cent in February 2017. The target is that less than one per cent of patients are waiting more than six weeks. Cancer treatment in South Warwickshire is falling short of target with one in six patients who were urgently referred by their GP with suspected cancer waited more than 62 days to start treatment in February.

That was a 12 per cent drop in performance from one in 16 during March 2010.

The target is that one in seven people should be experiencing waits of more than two months, with a target than 85 per cent should wait less than 62 days.

Dr Mark Porter, BMA chairman of the council, said: “The health service needs to be at the centre of the election campaign given the enormous pressure it currently faces.

“These figures underline the strain that local hospitals are facing with many struggling to provide effective care to their patients.

“With the NHS at breaking point, we need politicians of all parties to face up to the current crisis and commit to credible plans that guarantee the fully funded health service that staff and patients want to see.”

These figures underline the strain that local hospitals are facing with many struggling to provide effective care. Dr Mark Potter