A DOCTOR says an A&E department has seen record patient numbers, with high demand putting patients 'at risk'.

Ambulances continue to queue outside Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester as the NHS creaks under the pressure.

The 'record' strain on the hospital was reached on December 19, an emergency consultant has revealed.

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Meanwhile, leaders at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the West Midlands Ambulance Trust have thanked staff for their hard work during the busy period. Measures are being taken to free up ambulance crews to attend other 999 calls and speed up handover times.

 

 

David Raven, Divisional Director Urgent Care, EM Consultant, wrote on Twitter: "At 10pm on December 19 we hit a record of 176 patients in ED at WRH.

"Such demand poses risk to patients and staff, especially with covid, flu, RSV circulating. Please only use ED for emergencies and if you are unsure what type of care you need, call 111 or use 111online first."

A spokesperson for the West Midlands Ambulance Service said they are now taking less than 50 per cent of patients to A&E.

He added: "The Clinical Validation Team – advanced paramedics and nurses are helping us target our precious resources (ambulances) on those who need it most by assisting more patients over the phone or seamlessly transferring patients to other parts of the NHS such as occupational therapy, advanced nurse practitioners in the community, district nurses or referring patients to SDEC services

"Schemes such as the Ambulance Decision Area at University Hospitals of Birmingham (UHB) and Shrewsbury and soon Worcester are already making a difference – delays at UHB are half what they used to be.  Advanced paramedics are working with Ambulance Healthcare Assistants to look after patients within dedicated areas of the hospital to free up crews – they have additional skills which allow them to start tests that the patient needs ahead of them entering ED.

"It is a whole system issue – ambulance, hospital and social care working together. We have the best call-answering performance in the country."

"The ambulance service relies on each part of the health and social care system working together so ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly. 

"Sadly, the pressures we are seeing in health and social care lead to long hospital handover delays with our crews left caring for patients that need admitting to hospital rather than responding to the next call.  The result is that our crews are delayed reaching patients," said the spokesperson.