Hospitals’ battle to meet targets
Somerset’s hospitals are struggling to meet government targets as the number of patients admitted to their accident and emergency departments continues to rise.
There are four acute hospitals in Somerset with A&E facilities - the Royal University Hospital in Bath, Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Weston General Hospital in Weston-super-mare and Yeovil Hospital in Yeovil.
Figures published by Somerset County Council have shown only Yeovil is managing to meet the government’s target that patients coming to A&E should be seen within four hours of admission.
With attendance rising, all four hospitals have slipped further from meeting this target compared to the same period two years ago, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The data was published before a meeting of the council’s adults and health scrutiny committee in Taunton on November 3.
In Yeovil, an additional 213 patients attended A&E in July 2021 compared to May (a rise of 4.3 per cent), of which 90.9 per cent were seen within four hours, meeting the government’s target of 90 per cent.
Between April and July, attendances rose slightly compared to 2019/20, rising from 19,979 to 20,083 (or around half a per cent).
Of these, 92.9 per cent were seen within four hours - above the government’s target, but down from the 96 per cent achieved in 2019/20.
Michelle Skillings, head of performance at the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said this was “a small deterioration”, adding: “Yeovil Hospital remains one of the highest performing trusts nationally.”
At the RUH, A&E admission rates remained relatively static, with 7,713 people being admitted in July compared to 7,704 in May - though only 69 per cent were seen within four hours.
Between April and July, attendance rose by 1.5 per cent (the equivalent of 448 more patients) compared to the same period in 2019/20. Of these, 76.1 per cent were seen within four hours - a tiny improvement on the 2019/20 figure of 75.9 per cent.
At Musgrove, the number of patients attending A&E in July (the most recent figures available) was 8.2 per cent higher than two months prior - the equivalent of an additional 555 admissions.
Of these, 66.6 per cent were seen within four hours of admission.
Between April and July 2021 there were 27,147 admissions to Musgrove A&E - a rise of 3.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2019/20, and the equivalent of 981 additional patients.
Within this group, 73.7 per cent of patients were seen within four hours - down from 78.4 per cent in the same period in 2019/20, which has been blamed on “a significant increase in demand across all urgent care pathways.”
Weston General Hospital saw 4,139 A&E attendances in July around the same number as May but only 71.1 per cent of those patients were seen within four hours of being admitted.
Between April and July, its admissions actually fell by 8.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2019/20 - the equivalent of 1,554 fewer patients.
However, it still failed to meet the four-hour target, seeing 72.8 per cent of patients in this time - lower than the 78.3 per cent it achieved two years ago.
Ms Skillings said that Somerset’s GPS were endeavouring to see as many patients as possible in spite of the ongoing pandemic, reducing the need for individuals to go straight to A&E.
She said in her written report: “Patient demand has continued to remain high and the nationally mandated triage arrangements remain in place.
“Patients who need to be seen face to face continue to receive this type of appointment and in July 57.3 per cent of GP consultations were delivered face to face.”
Ms Skillings added that the NHS 111 helpline - which directs people to the appropriate NHS service was subject to “ongoing pressures” at a national level.
Healthwatch Somerset is expected to publish its detailed findings on how well the NHS 111 service is operating in Somerset early next year.