QMC emergency department waiting times improve but still behind national target

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Nottinghaam's Queen

Waiting times at the QMC’s emergency department have improved but continue to fall behind the target of treating 95 per cent of patients within four hours.

According to the latest data from NHS England, 81.4 per cent of A&E patients were seen within four hours in March, up 2.1 per cent from February.

A total of 17,230 patients were treated in the department in March, which averages at 556 patients treated per day in a department designed to see 350.

In February the Care Quality Commission, the hospital inspectorate, rated the emergency department at the QMC as ‘requiring improvement’.

Chief operating officer for the QMC Caroline Shaw said: “We didn’t achieve the national four hour standard in 2016/17, which was 76.6 per cent compared to the average of 95 per cent, or in the first month of 2017/18 despite the hard work and focus on flow and reducing discharge delays by staff across NUH and the wider health and social care system.

“Improving performance remains a priority and the constructive feedback the system has received from the Emergency Care Improvement Programme and the Care Quality Commission after its December 2016 inspection has informed where we need to focus our energy to ensure patients get the timely care they deserve.

“CQC rated caring as ‘good’ though there remains more to do to reduce extended waits in our emergency department and discharge delays.

“This includes improving the consistency of our internal processes to improve flow in and through our hospitals, strengthening our streaming processes and the way we assess patients at the front door and other new developments such as GPs, community matrons and NUH staff working together on a ward at the QMC to reduce discharge delays.

“We are developing a business case for a new urgent and emergency care centre at QMC to address the overcrowding in ED that was described in the CQC report.”

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King’s Mill hospital

The emergency department at King’s Mill hospital, near Mansfield, exceeded the national target for the month of March with a percentage of 95.2.

A total of 13,011 patients were seen in the department at King’s Mill during that period.

Chief operating officer Roz Howie at Sherwood Forest Hospitals (NHS) Trust, which runs King’s Mill, said: “We have been among the best-performing Trust’s in England for some time for the four-hour emergency care standard.

“It is a tribute to staff working across the health and social care community, especially as the number of urgent and emergency attendances at the Trust during April this year was 4.9 per cent higher than it was in April 2016.

“Despite this increase, we continue to achieve the standard, which was 95.99 per cent for April which compares to 91.99 per cent 12 months ago.

“The four-hour urgent care standard is to treat and discharge or admit 95% of urgent and emergency attendances within four hours.

“Although this tends to shine a light on the dedication and commitment of our urgent care teams, it is actually a signal that the whole of the health and social care system, our NHS community partners and local authority social care teams are working well together.

“In quarter three of the 2016-2017 financial year we achieved 95.1 per cent, putting us seventh out of 134 English trusts during a period of growing winter pressures.

“We are very proud of our achievements here at Sherwood Forest Hospitals and we continue to work with our partners to ensure that the targets are met.”

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