EVEN as the proposals were being unveiled last week, trust chief executive Mary Edwards was facing difficult questions from Hampshire county councillors.
She revealed to the county’s health and wellbeing board that the trust was spending £400,000 per month buying in agency nurses in a bid to cope with soaring numbers of patients and staff sickness.
The stark problems at Basingstoke hospital, as well as in Andover and Winchester, saw planned operations cancelled, and an increase in patients waiting on trolleys after arriving by ambulance.
Mrs Edwards blamed severe winter pressures and bed blocking.
In December, The Gazette reported on how Basingstoke hospital was facing “unprecedented challenges”, with record numbers of people going to the Emergency Department while beds were blocked by those who could not be discharged.
Mrs Edwards revaled that that situation had not changed.
She said: “We are really only doing urgent surgical care at the moment, which is not good for Hampshire people.”
The meeting heard how an extra £5.2m has been spent on providing more consultants, nurses, hospital beds and ambulances, but all systems are still pushed to the limit.
A further £1.47m has been spent boosting community care through measures such as dozens of extra nursing home beds and more hospital discharge teams.
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