'Horrendous' ambulance delays at West Midlands hospitals

An ambulance crew had to wait seven hours to hand over a patient in the West Midlands, it has been revealed.

The case on 11 December was highlighted in the West Midlands Ambulance Service's in-house magazine, which said average waits had "ballooned".

It said average waits at one hospital were running at nearly three hours in early December.

The ambulance service said it hoped to put another 40 crews on the road by January.

Delays in hospitals taking over care of patients is considered "risky", NHS England said, because it not only delayed patients receiving specialist assessment and treatment, but also reduced the number of ambulances available to respond to emergencies.

The West Midlands trust's weekly briefing magazine, published on 17 December, said only the East of England trust had experienced a similar level of "horrendous" delays. It added that another four hospitals in the West Midlands had average delays of about two hours.

The "knock-on" effect it said was some high-risk patients were waiting longer for an ambulance than they should.

Meanwhile, some staff had to work late beyond their shifts and missed meal breaks.

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Source: BBC News, 23 December 2020