A&E units missing four-hour targets

More than 5,000 patients waited four or more hours to be seen at accident and emergency departments at east Kent hospitals, according to the latest statistics.

The latest monthly figures for hospital admissions indicate the East Kent Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) faces continuing problems dealing with patients within the government’s target.

Across Kent as a whole, 43,492 patients went to A&E departments in December, with 11,557 waiting longer than the government’s four-hour target to be seen.

Delays were greatest at the EKHUFT, which was the sixth worst-performing trust in the country for delayed admissions last month, with just 61% of patients being seen within four hours.

Of the 13,925 patients who went to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford and the QEQM Hospital in Margate in December, more than a third – 5,142 – were not seen within the target time.

That was significantly higher than Kent’s other hospitals, who also experienced problems meeting the four-hour wait time.

Medway NHS Trust saw it slip back in December when 8,074 patients went to A&E – of which 2,496 waited longer than four hours to be seen.

This was one of the biggest slumps in the country – with 61% being seen within the target compared to 83% the previous month.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust performed better with 82.6% of the 12,782 patients being admitted within four hours.

Although that was a fall on November’s figure of 87.6%, the hospitals saw 847 more patients in December.

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust performed the best, with 81.6% of the 9,391 patients seen within four hours. However, that was lower than the previous month when nearly 90% of patients were seen.

Overall, 43,492 patients were seen at A&E departments across Kent in December, the equivalent of 1,403 a day.

Health chiefs last week warned the government that the service was at breaking point.

Some 68 senior doctors wrote to the prime minister to say patients were dying in hospital corridors as safety was compromised by “intolerable” conditions.

In a statement, EKHUFT said: “Like the rest of the NHS, we cared for an extraordinary high number of ill patients in December.

“The NHS has prepared for increased pressure over the winter period, including reducing the number of planned operations carried out in hospitals to make more beds available for emergency patients and increasing doctor cover in the emergency departments.

“However, there has been a high demand on the whole health system.

“Because the most critically ill patients are seen first some people have waited longer than we would like in our emergency departments before being admitted to a ward or discharged.”

The trust added that it had successfully bid for £1.9m for the winter period to provide extra beds and care packages within the community to support the timely discharge of patients.

The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust said: “There is still unprecedented demand on our emergency departments but we are pleased to note that there was an improvement in waiting times in the month of December compared to November.

“Additionally, our figures show that while we saw 937 more patients in A&E in December 2017 compared to December 2016, we still managed to reduce the number of those who waited longer than four hours to complete their care with us, which is a significant improvement.

“Although we are not seeing all patients as quickly as we would like to at this time of huge demand, we are doing everything we can to maintain a good service and it would seem that the carefully-implemented winter plan we have in place has helped improve our performance in December, compared to last.”

‘Because the most critically ill patients are seen first, some people have waited longer than we would have liked’

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