Hospitals’ chiefs at battle stations as winter strife looms

Alarm over vacancies and non-emergency care

Health chiefs say that giving patients the right care in the right place will be crucial if they are to avoid a crisis in emergency care this winter.

Eas t Kent NHS Tr u s t (EKHUFT) runs the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford and the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

The trust has been rated as one of the worst in the country for A&E waiting times, with the number of patients being seen within the four-hour government target falling to just over 60% in recent months. The target is 95%.

Problems have been made worse by the fact that the Kent and Canterbury Hospital now only treats minor injuries.

But health bosses say they have introduced a 12-month plan to improve emergency care.

Ashford and Canterbury CCG accountable officer Simon Perks said: “Ensuring patients can access the care they need in their communities, seeing patients more quickly in hospital A&Es and improving the experience for patients is our priority.

“We are focusing on ensuring that the entire NHS is caring for patients in the right place at the right time, whether that’s in a hospital bed, in a community setting, or at home.”

The trust has successfully bid for £800,000 to expand the A&E departments at Ashford and Margate, and has taken on a further 10 emergency doctors.

Acting chief executive Liz Shutler said: “We are carefully monitoring our services. Patients attending the emergency departments are assessed soon after arriving and critically ill patients are prioritised and treated quickly.

“However, this means that people attending with non-life threatening illnesses and injuries can wait for a long time – this is not the standard we want for any of our patients.

“A wide range of doctors, nurses, therapists and other clinical staff in our emergency departments are working extremely hard to care for patients. But it is challenging as we are still covering vacant posts with temporary staff.

“Every member of staff is working extremely hard to care for patients. Improving standards for emergency patients is our top priority.”

East Kent Trust acting chief Liz Shutler backs the hospitals’ ‘extremely hard-working’ staff