Sick patients left in ambulances

Reporter: by Dawn Eckersley
Date online: 09/12/2008

Staff struggle to cope as A&E overflows

SICK patients faced an agonising wait at Oldham’s casualty as ambulances queued around the block.

The waiting room in A&E was packed as staff struggled to cope with demand yesterday.

Matthew Scholes (23) went to the Royal Oldham Hospital at 12pm with a bad back after suffering a muscle spasm.

He said: “The waiting room was rammed full and the information board said there would be a four-hour wait but it was more like six hours minimum.

“Everyone was complaining, even the staff, and I counted nine ambulances waiting outside — I thought there had been a really bad accident. There were people lying on trolleys in corridors and I saw someone with blood pouring from his face. He’d been waiting for ages.

“The triage nurse who told me there was no point in waiting as there were no doctors. I had been to the doctor the day before so I just left without seeing a doctor.

“I was in a lot of pain but my problem was minor compared to some of the people.

“I dread to think what would have happened if there had been a terrible car crash — no one was getting treated quickly.”

It was just a month ago that the Chronicle reported how staff at the hospital were forced to treat patients in ambulances.

The problem is widespread, leading to the College of Emergency Medicine pleading with the Government to double the number of consultants from 740 to 1,500 by 2012 and to invest in training emergency staff.

A spokesperson said most casualty departments were struggling to recruit senior staff and had major problems because of spending on alternatives, such as NHS Urgent Care Centres, rather than training more specialists.

But the Department of Health insisted the Urgent Care Centres have an important role to play in providing care for non-critical patients.

A spokesman for the Pennine Acute Trust, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “Waiting times exceeded four hours on occasions over the course of Monday because of an influx of patients. Again we are very sorry for the inconvenience.

“The Royal Oldham Hospital’s A&E experiences busy periods, and Monday was no exception.

“We would advise people not to attend A&E unless it really is an accident or emergency, we would ask them to see their GP, a pharmacist or visit a drop-in centre where appropriate.”