THOUSANDS of patients visiting Basingstoke hospital’s emergency department are having to wait longer than four hours to be seen.

Figures published by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) show that it failed to hit its target for A&E waiting times for the last year.

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The most recent figures show that in January, 3,173 people who visited the emergency department had to wait longer than four hours.

The worst month during the last year was October, when 3,759 people had to wait longer than four hours.

HHFT has a monthly goal of no more than 500 people having to wait longer than the target of four hours.

It has failed to meet this since before January 2021.

It is graded as ‘red’ for this target meaning it is ‘not performing well, showing a large deviation from the monthly goal’.

A report by HHFT said: “Emergency care continues to be pressurised across the whole health care system and our four-hour performance has been very challenged.”

It also referenced problems with patients being discharged after being admitted to hospital.

Figures showed that of 110 patients discharged through ‘single point of access’ in one week in February, less than half went within three days of being notified as ready to go.

The report said: “Many homes have been closed due to Covid outbreaks or staff shortages due to Covid.”

A spokeswoman for HHFT said: “Our hospitals have continued to face significant levels of demand in recent months and we have seen an increasing number of patients coming through the doors of our emergency departments.

“We are also seeing a rise in attendances of patients who are particularly unwell across our sites. This, alongside the ongoing impact of Covid-19, has unfortunately meant that waiting times in our emergency departments have, on occasion, been longer than we would hope to see.

“As a trust we are committed to ensuring all patients receive the care they need and all our teams are continuing to work incredibly hard to deliver this.

“Please remember you can get advice at any time by calling 111. You can also speak to your GP or local pharmacist prior to visiting our hospitals. It’s important to remember that your NHS is always here for you and if you have a life-threatening emergency or are in need of urgent care, you should always dial 999.”

 

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