The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has today released a statement following last night’s Channel 4 Dispatches programme.
The show highlighted the challenging conditions in urgent and emergency care services at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, the hospital Trust said it wanted to apologise to those affected in the programme and to everyone in its communities who has been affected by long waiting times, overcrowding and a lack of privacy when accessing emergency care.
In the statement the Trust said:
“Even when we are faced with significant pressures, we must uphold the highest standards of care and we recognise that some of the conditions displayed in the programme did not meet these standards. Across the wider Trust, we are determined to ensure we consistently deliver the care, compassion and dignity we strive for our patients.
“As with other hospitals, our Trust is facing significant challenges with urgent and emergency care. We understand our challenges and are investing in our services and making steady improvements as a Trust, as noted in our recent CQC report. However, there is still much more to do; we do not want to be in a position where we are caring for patients on corridors.
“We are very sorry that our patients have experienced anything less than the quality care we strive for, and we are determined, working with partners, to improve the care and experience for everyone. We are continuing to do everything possible to support the privacy, dignity and wellbeing of our patients, and have adapted the way we deliver care in our urgent and emergency care services by investing in additional staffing, screens, cleaning and catering. We recognise there is still further to go on our improvement journey.
“Our colleagues are working incredibly hard to maintain safe services and we are grateful for everything they are doing to support our patients in this difficult working environment. We would also like to thank our patients for their support and understanding during this time.
“Our Emergency Departments are open and we want to reassure our communities that your safety is our top priority and we are here to help you, if you need urgent and emergency care. Local communities can also support us by choosing the right service for their needs, including using pharmacies, minor injury units or 111 for advice and signposting and 999 in an emergency – your support really helps us to reduce waiting times for those who most urgently need our care.
“Families, and carers can also support our clinical teams by having early conversations about any support you may need so we can help ensure your relative is discharged when they are clinically ready to leave hospital.
“We will fully explore all the feedback and incorporate the learning into our improvement work. We are committed to working with and listening to feedback from our patients, communities, partners and colleagues as we seek to improve urgent and emergency care for everyone.
“If you are worried about anything you have seen in the programme, or have questions or concerns about the treatment you, or a family member, have received please contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service who will do their best to support you. People can also contact their local Healthwatch or Llais who are independent organisations that champion the voice of people using health and care services locally.”
Improvements
In April and May 2024 the Trust’s A&E departments supported more than 26,700 patients. A rise is being seen in urgent and emergency care attendances every year, with 13% more overall A&E attendances when compared to levels seen in 2019/20 (based on January 2020 and January 2024 data to recognise the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic). This compares to a 5% increase nationally.
The Trust said it understands its challenges and are investing in its services, but recognise there is much more required to be done. Below are some of the ways the Trust is working to improve care and support a positive experience for patients:
– Recruiting more housekeepers, as they play an invaluable role in supporting the cleanliness of hospital departments.
– Investing in additional staffing, especially in nursing teams, to maintain safe staffing levels recognising that there are more patients in the departments.
– Focused on improving the nutrition and hydration needs of patients, and offering patients waiting long times food during mealtimes.
– Working with colleagues to continue to promote good infection, prevention and control practices.
– Improving the the comfort and experience of waiting areas. With investment in specialist, padded seats and recliner seats in Fit to Sit areas, however its recognised that patients are waiting longer than wanted and Fit to Sit areas will be reviewed to reduce waiting times.
– The Estates team is also working to ensure environments are decorated and kept in working order.
– Improvements in triage times with more patients assessed within 15 minutes.
– A strict criteria in place and assess all patients to determine if they are able to be in a hospital chair or to be on a trolley in an escalation area. Only patients with lower acuity (medical) needs will be treated in these areas. The Trust has increased staffing in these areas and will be ensuring that patients are regularly offered reassurance and their needs are supported.
– The Trust says it has invested in more modern digital systems in emergency departments that will help to monitor the patients who are waiting in departments and ensure that observations are being carried out on time. This will take time to embed, but the Trust says it is committed to supporting clinicians to improving care through more modern tools.
– The Trust has made a Trustwide commitment to improving urgent and emergency care. A new campaign is being launched internally, and with partners, helping everyone to understand their role in improving urgent and emergency care.
– The Trust says it is open to learning and feedback and are continuing to work with national experts who are working in all departments, exploring all opportunities to improve flow through, and out of its hospitals.
– Work is being undertaken with partners to increase capacity for patients not requiring acute (hospital) care. Following national investment, 52 beds in a new Rehabilitation and Recovery Units at both Princess Royal Hospital (PRH), Telford, and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), run by Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) have been opened. These units provide general rehabilitation, often for people who are frail and elderly, or require specialist rehabilitation, for example people who have had a stroke or broken hips, who cannot be supported safely in their own homes, but do not need to remain in an acute hospital bed.
– Investment in community health and social care capacity has reduced patients waiting for discharge in hospital beds by two-thirds.
– Work is taking place with Shropcom following investment in 167 Virtual Ward beds and a new Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) service which aims to support patients to be discharged from hospital when they are medically ready. However, the Trust says it recognises that demand for hospital beds continues to be high and there is more work for all partners to do to improve care for everyone.
– The Trust says it is continually investing in its services, supporting patients to be seen and assessed by the right clinicians, first time without waiting in Emergency Departments. This includes supporting direct access for GP emergency admissions. The Trust said it knows there is more to do to improve the efficiency of the services, due to the current demands for hospital beds.
– Action taken internally to improve patient ‘flow’ through the hospital to enable earlier/more timely discharge of patients to create bed space for patients needing admission from EDs and assessment areas.
Frinally the Trust said it is working closely with health and care system partners to look at additional community and social care capacity to support timely discharge and create bed space to take patients from A&E.