‘Hospital staff face worst conditions imaginable’
STAFF at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport are “working in the worst conditions you can imagine” due to a backlog of repair work, a councillor has claimed.
The hospital, part of the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, is struggling to deal with mounting repairs according to Coun Tom Morrison, who claims the problem is having an impact on both staff and patients.
In November, Stepping Hill announced that its Outpatients B building would close due to “significant deterioration in the general condition of the building” found during an inspection, causing appointments to be relocated across the hospital.
Coun Morrison, the Lib Dem candidate for Cheadle, said: “I’ve spoken to nurses and doctors at Stepping Hill and they have lost a substantial part of the estate which means more and more people are being crammed into a smaller space.
“There isn’t the space to deal with the patients they are getting, patients don’t know if their appointments will go ahead. The staff are working in the worst conditions you can imagine.”
In December, Coun Morrison said he contacted the Secretary of State about the issues at Stepping Hill, but he has not received a response so far.
“It’s disappointing”, he said, “It just goes to show where Stepping Hill is in the thoughts of the Government.”
Stockport council’s cabinet member for health, Coun Keith Holloway, said the challenges facing staff at the hospital are immense. He said that recently around 60 patients were clinically discharged from the hospital but were unable to leave due to there not being a care support package in place for them post-treatment.
He said: “The pressure [on healthcare staff ] is absolutely unremitting.
“If you have people in hospital beds who do not need to be there that makes it much more difficult to admit people at the right time and that means more pressure on staff.”
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust apologised for the impact of the closure of its Outpatients B building.
A spokesman said: “We are working hard to find alternative locations for all appointments.
“Stockport has a higher population of older people than in other areas of Greater Manchester, who are living longer, and are more likely to have complex health issues and take longer to discharge. They also need to have suitable accommodation for when they are discharged.
“We are working closely with our local health and social care partners to tackle these issues. We have introduced new measures including our virtual ward programme treating people at home, and as a result we have made significant reductions in delayed discharges and reducing long lengths of stay in recent months.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are investing an additional £600 million this year and £1 billion next year through the Discharge Fund to support the NHS and local authorities to ensure timely and effective discharge from hospital.
“We have also launched a £40m grant to support local authorities to strengthen urgent and emergency care resilience and performance this winter, whether by preventing avoidable admissions or by reducing discharge delays.
“This funding is being targeted at local authorities with the greatest challenges.”