Comment: We must all act to help hospital

Jul 31 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

IT IS not the kind of accolade that any hospital would wish to have – the Royal Liverpool has the worst rate for A&E waiting times in the North West because of staff shortages.

The problem has become so serious that locum consultants have been drafted in because the Trust has been unable to cover 24-hour medical shifts.

The locum doctors have been contracted by Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) to work on Friday and Saturday nights, when there are the highest number of breaches of a Government target stipulating patients should be seen within four hours.

At least 98% of those entering A&E should be seen within this timescale according to the national standard but over the last year – when the Trust experienced recruitment problems – the Royal has only achieved 94%.

However the hospital claims this has improved more recently and stood at 97.2% between March 31 and June 22 this year.

The hospital blames a “relentless” increase in attendees, many of which do not require emergency treatment.

The Government’s much-criticised Modernising Medical Careers training programme has also resulted in gaps in A&E cover, according to the hospital.

Everyone appreciates that an inner city A&E department such as the one in the centre of Liverpool will be rushed off its feet on Friday and Saturday nights.

It is also no doubt true there has been a relentless increase in attendances, with the department treating 20,000 more patients per annum than in 2002, although no-one seems to be asking the obvious question: “Why?”

And no-one would dispute that many of these “attendees” are not genuine emergencies.

Nevertheless, if Liverpool’s flagship hospital is to shed this unwanted title of having the worst rate for A&E waiting times in the North West, it must take action quickly to redress the balance.

To help them do this, everyone also needs to act responsibly and only call on such hard-pressed services in a genuine emergency.