Thousands of Leicester hospital patients face hour-long wait after arriving by ambulance

According to a report, thousands of patients arriving by ambulance at Leicester Royal Infirmary are waiting longer than an hour before being seen by A&E staff.

 

Only 7,728 of 36,799 patients arriving at the hospital between April and October were seen within the target of 15 minutes, and a total of 5,811 had to wait for longer than an hour.

 

Hospital bosses and East Midlands Ambulance Service said they were working towards improving waiting times.

 

Richard Henderson, chief executive of EMAS said the delays were contributing to the service being “extremely challenged”, adding “The main issues currently facing the trust continue to be the sustained increase in 999 activity and significant delays in the handover of patients at receiving hospitals.

 

“These delays in handover impact on our ability to respond to patients in the community in a timely manner. Although we are still responding to activity associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, this is not now the main reason for the increase in activity we are seeing.

 

“The main reason for the increase more recently is the number of patients calling 999 presenting with breathing problems or chest pains as a result of a fall.”

 

Fiona Lennon, the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s deputy chief operating officer, said waiting times often dependent on how sick a patient is, with priority being given to patients requiring the most urgent care, including those who do not arrive by ambulance.

 

She said “Sometimes we have to take a sicker patient from the waiting room unto the department rather than perhaps an EMAS patient.  What we do in the department is we prioritise the care of the patients on the sickest patients being seen first.”

 

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events.  Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

 

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

 

Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

 

Freephone : 0800 304 7382