Hospital turns patients away one day in two

The region's biggest hospital is declaring an overcrowding red alert and closing its doors to non-emergency patients one day in every two on average - reports The Sentinel.

The University Hospital of North Staffordshire has declared the highest state of alert, meaning it is under extreme pressure and immediate action is required, on 329 days out of 802 since April 1, 2005.

Until an alert is cleared, management cancel pre-booked operations and send patients home, ask staff to work extra hours or come in on their days off, pay for beds in the private nursing sector to free up space, and call neighbouring hospitals for help.

And the problem appears to be getting worse. While red alerts happened on one in three days last year, they rose to 38 days out of 72 between April and June 11 this year.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that a red alert was declared at the Hartshill hospital on 18 consecutive days in February.

Ian Syme, co-ordinator of North Staffordshire Healthwatch, said hospitals should be running at 80 to 85 per cent capacity so there was slack in case of emergencies.

He said: "The University Hospital hasn't got the capacity to deal with the illness it is encountering.

"There has been a significant cut in staff and in the number of beds.

"But there hasn't been a significant increase in community services and they won't be up to scratch for five to 10 years. I don't know any other profession where staff are under such severe pressure so much of the time.

"The hospital trust has pledged to slash 1,000 jobs, 800 of which have already been cut. It has also axed 145 of its 1,300 beds in the past year to tackle a £15 million debt.