A&E waiting times at RD&E cut as trust is praised for improvements

WAITING times have been slashed at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital’s (RD&E) A&E department and are now among the best in the country.

Together with improvements at sister site North Devon District Hospital, it puts the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in the top 10 of most-improved health trusts in the country for urgent emergency care.

The trust said it has “exceeded its expectations” with the way waiting times have been cut.

The end-of-year performance showed 80% of A&E patients were dealt with within four hours. The national target is 7%.

Trust chief executive Sam Higginson told a board meeting there is a “sense of growing momentum” for the organisation, which was rated as “requires improvement” by the Care Quality Commisson (CQC) last August in its first inspection since the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust merged in 2022.

The financial situation is more stable, with the Integrated Performance Report at the end of the 2023/24 financial year showing its deficit dropped to £27 million after savings of £77m were made. More than half of the savings will have an ongoing benefit, it added.

The patient waiting list had reduced by 8,500, and waiting times for cancer diagnosis and of more than 78 weeks for non-urgent care had improved.

However, at 75,000 people, the trust still had one of the largest patient waiting lists in the country.

Mr Higginson praised the 1,000 staff in the two hospitals who had improved performance during times of challenge and industrial action, but he said there is still a lot to do.

The trust plans to reduce the waiting list by another 10,000 people this year.

“In two-to-three years’ time,

Iwould like to see us back to having a stable waiting list, and in a good financial position within 18 months,” Mr Higginson added.

He said the trust had achieved its best four-hour performance in emergency care since the merger.

A letter from Dame Cally Palmer and Professor Peter Johnson from the NHS Cancer Programme said the trust’s 40% reduction in people waiting more than 2 days from getting a cancer diagnosis to starting treatment – 101 fewer patients than a year ago – was “some of the most positive progress we have seen anywhere nationally.”

There were three ‘must-do’ actions for the trust following the CQC report last year:

» To ensure its systems and processes support it to oversee and respond to issues and risks more quickly and ensure learning from incidents, including never events and data issues

» To ensure the information reported from its electronic patient record system is accurate and properly analysed to support regular audits to improve the quality of care

» Achieve a stable financial position and continue to manage pressures so they do not compromise the quality of care.

The CQC reported “compassion and positive teamworking” and found the leadership to be “cohesive, patient centred and knowledgeable about the issues and priorities for the quality and sustainability of services”.

❝❝ In two-to-three years’ time, I would like to see us back to having a stable waiting list, and in a good financial position within 18 months

Sam Higginson