Stafford Hospital A&E night closure stretches Queen's
THE night-time closure of Stafford Hospital’s casualty department has forced A&E admissions in Burton on busy evenings to increase 20-fold.
Burton’s Queen’s Hospital expected the temporary night closure of Stafford’s A&E to have only a minimal effect.
But bosses have revealed the Belvedere Road hospital receives as many as seven Stafford patients a night — many more than the one every three days which had initially been predicted.
Scandal-hit Stafford Hospital currently closes its A&E department between 10pm and 8am each day as managers try to tackle a critical shortage of doctors.
When the closure scheme was announced it was thought most Stafford patients requiring emergency treatment at night would instead go to hospitals in Wolverhampton and Stoke on Trent.
But Burton’s hospital has seen a massive increase in night-time ambulance arrivals from the county town.
Queen’s chief executive Helen Ashley said: “We have received more patients from Stafford than had originally been thought.
“We have had a challenging couple of months. Receiving an unplanned number of patients clearly was not what we were planning for so it has stretched us. But we have coped.”
Ms Ashley continued: “Some nights we have seen seven patients arrive from Stafford but other nights it has been none.
“On average, it’s three or four.
“An ambulance transport sometimes means an admission but sometimes it does not, so there are differing levels of impact.”
Even when Stafford Hospital’s casualty department is operating during the day, Burton’s A&E department has been under strain.
Queen’s chief operating officer Jackie Jones revealed the hospital had occasionally missed its target of 95 per cent of A&E patients being seen within four hours of arrival.
“Some days the A&E unit has seen extra pressure with the number of patients, so sometimes we have missed the 95 per cent standard,” she said.
“Due to the volume at times this has been quite challenging. But this is not necessarily linked to the Stafford Hospital A&E closure as we are seeing this strain at all times of the day.”
