A&E bed numbers ‘should be trebled’
SOUTHPORT Hospital should treble the number of beds in A&E as it struggles to cope with the number of emergency patients, health experts say.
They are also calling for more nurses and longer opening hours for urgent care and walk-in services.
Northern England Clinical Senate, in an investigation commissioned by Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals Trust, was shocked to find that four of every 10 people were having to wait more than four hours to be seen by doctors in Southport.
The unit also caters for adult A&E cases from West Lancashire, after the adult A&E department at Ormskirk Hospital was closed in 2003.
Report author Prof Andrew Cant said: “The disjointed flow of patients though Southport Hospital constitutes the biggest challenge facing the emergency department and acute medical services.
“The senate team heard that the four-hour wait standard is achieved for only about 60% of patients, with 40-50 medical admissions a day.
“The AMU has only 22 beds, and the six ambulatory care spaces are almost always converted to bed spaces.
“The practice of all patients, including GP admissions, coming through adds to the strain in the department which clearly does not have the physical capacity to cope with the number of patients.
“Whilst medical support may come from in-hospital teams, it is not clear that the number of nurses is increased to cope with the excess number of patients.
“It is essential some immediate change is instituted to help alleviate the flow issue.”
Prof Cant said that more capacity needed to be found urgently at Southport A&E.
NHS medical guidance calls for A&E departments to have as many beds as there are daily admissions, plus an additional 10%.
Prof Cant said: “Significantly increasing the number of assessment beds – to as close to 60 as possible – would enable the unit to turn many more patients around in a 48-hour period.
“More nursing staff would probably need to be found, as well as the physical space to accommodate these beds.
“This increased capacity would alleviate pressure on the emergency department and would have the benefit of better fourhour performance, and should be an operational priority for the trust.” He added: “The opening hours of the urgent care and walk-in services should also be reviewed, with 10pm – or even midnight – being preferable to the current 7.30pm closing times.”
The trust is considering proposals to merge all A&E services, currently split between Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital, on one site, with arguments raging over the better location.
West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has said that she would strongly oppose any reduction in services in Ormskrik.
Southport Conservative MP Damien Moore said: “Hundreds of tourists visit our town, and thousands choose to retire here.
“Given the demands this creates on our NHS, I believe Southport would be the best ‘hot’ site.”
Sefton Central Labour MP Bill Esterson, who last week celebrated the 70th birthday of the NHS, said: “I will be opposing any attempts to downgrade or close A&E or other services. It is vital that the people of Formby and Southport have access to the best possible A&E services.”
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