Wigan A&E patients face long waits for beds

Hospitals across the borough and around the rest of the country continue to be in high demand, as staff try to deal with the backlog caused by the coronavirus pandemic as well as patients with new health conditions.

New data from NHS England shows the pressure on beds at Wigan Infirmary and the other hospitals run by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

A total of 1,011 people waited more than four hours for a bed last month, after the decision to admit them had been made, while 73 people had to wait for more than 12 hours.

It mirrors the national picture, with a record 24,138 people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England in April, up from 22,506 in March and the highest for any calendar month in records going back to August 2010.

A total of 131,905 people waited at least four hours from the decision to admit to admission in April, down from 136,298 in March.

There were 12,931 attendances at Wigan’s casualty departments in April, falling from 14,165 in March.

Overall 73.4 per cent of people were seen within the target time of four hours – up from 70.1 per cent the month before. This was above the 72.3 per cent seen across England, up from a record low of 71.6 per cent in March.

The operational standard is that at least 95 per cent of patients attending A&E should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, but this has not been met nationally since 2015.

For Wigan Infirmary’s A&E department alone, 58.2 per cent of patients were seen in four hours, up from 53.8 per cent in March.

Leigh Walk-In Centre saw 99.7 per cent of people within that time, an increase from 99.3 per cent the month before.

There were 2,771 emergency admissions to the hospital during March, most of them from A&E.

Mary Fleming, the trust’s deputy chief executive, said: “As a trust we continue to face significant pressure, as attendances to our hospitals over the past

months continue to be above average.

“Our staff continue to work incredibly hard to provide care and treatment to patients as quickly as possible, particularly those with life-threatening conditions and I would like to thank them for their continued support. They remain committed to the highest levels of care possible for our patients, despite these continuing pressures.

“Our priority, as always, is to provide safe and high-quality care for the people across the Wigan borough and to always be there for people who need our help, in emergency, urgent and non-urgent situations.

“We fully understand patients are worried and we are grateful for their continued patience and understanding.

“Please remember other NHS services such as NHS 111 – online and over the phone in urgent but not life-threatening cases – and GP practices remain available for use.”