Leicester hospital criticised over long A&E waits

The Accident & Emergency department at Leicester Royal Infirmary is struggling with long waits due to soaring demand according to health bosses with some patients waiting hours to be seen and even longer to be given beds.

NHS bosses apologised and said issues surrounding access to social care and GP’s were a factor, and the hospital said it was currently seeing around 800 patients a day, compared to 350 to 500 before the pandemic.

According to latest figures for March, only 55 per cent of patients were dealt with after four hours of arriving at the hospital.  The target is 95 per cent.

Andrew Furlong, medical director of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, apologised for the problems, adding “I’ve worked for the NHS for 30 years and it is as tough as it’s ever been.

“Our staff are working incredibly hard but they are finding it very difficult with the way facilities are and the access to beds and the waits for patients at the moment.

“It’s a tough one in terms of how we fix this – I think people need more access to their GPs and we desperately need more access to social care.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of 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.

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