Warning on A&E pressure in South East

Published: 26 April 2013

The Royal College of Nursing has warned that A&E waiting times appear to be increasing across the South East.

There are five NHS trusts in the region where the number of patients seen in A&E within four hours has fallen well below the national average for the past quarter. Just last week several hospitals in the area saw a rise in the number of patients waiting more than four hours to be seen.

Patricia Marquis, South East Regional Director, said: "The figures make for stark reading and this is backed up by what we are hearing from nurses on the front line. We had one incident of a busy A&E where one nurse was looking after 27 patients. This is dangerous and unacceptable. We have already seen an A&E in Brighton forced to temporarily close due to the pressure and several others appear to be teetering on the edge.

"It isn't clear why the situation is getting worse. It could be the introduction of the new 111 service, which isn't running up to speed in some areas, and we know that understaffing on the front line plays a massive part, with patients having to wait longer. It is probably a combination of several factors causing these problems and we will be seeking urgent talks with the trusts involved to try and find out what is going so wrong."

The national average for the percentage of A&E patients seen in four hours or less is currently 88 per cent. The five local trusts singled out as having significantly below average rates for seeing patients within four hours are:

TRUST                                                      Percentage of A&E patients seen in 4 hrs or less

Milton Keynes Hospital                              77.4

Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals     85.6

Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals   74.2

University Hospital Southampton               60.4

Oxford University Hospitals                        77.8

(Data from Department of Health, week ending 7 April 2013).