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ONE PAPER ... ALL THE NEWS from Dewsbury, Batley, Ossett, Mirfield, Liversedge, Birstall, Heckmondwike, Cleckheaton & Spen Valley
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Friday January 6, 2017
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No. 771
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GRIDLOCKED 11 hours to see a doctor 20-hour wait for a bed Loos ‘backed up’ - claims By James Morris News Reporter james@thepressnews.co.uk
DEWSBURY HOSPITAL’S A&E department was stretched to its limits over the festive period with reports of patients having to wait up to 11 hours to see a doctor. Amid pleas from health chiefs to only visit Dewsbury’s A&E in a real emergency, Batley & Spen MP Tracy Brabin says her team was contacted by shocked constituents, one of whom claimed they’d had to spend almost 20 hours there before a bed on a ward was found. Another said they were denied a pillow as there were none spare, and other patients faced long waits to use the toilet as the two commodes in the department could not be emptied and cleaned quickly enough. Health bosses blamed the pressure resources on people turning up to A&E departments when they did not have a serious illness. David Melia, director of nursing and quality at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “People need to remember that A&E is for real accidents and emergencies –
chest pain, blacking out, blood loss and fractures – and those with severe conditions will always take priority. “We’ve been advising the public through all channels possible that, like all hospitals across the country, our A&E departments have been busier than usual over the last week. “Our hospitals have the resources and expertise to deal with the patients who come through our doors but our issue has been one of capacity. “We have opened extra beds on the wards and are working with care providers in the community to get the right level of care and support for those patients who no longer need to be in hospital to enable us to admit those who do. “Patients are seen in order of clinical priority which means that people with less urgent needs may wait longer to be seen and some people
Both MPs Tracy Brabin (left) and Paula Sherriff are asking questions of the Trust in charge at DDH who need admission may have to wait longer than usual in the A&E departments for a bed to become vacant.” The district’s two MPs expressed their concerns over the reports coming out of Dewsbury Hospital over Christmas and New Year. Tracy Brabin has asked the Trust to clarify the situation after she was contacted by a number of constituents regarding the problems. She said: “I understand the festive
period is an incredibly busy time for A&E departments and what is very clear is phenomenal NHS staff are working flat-out in ever more difficult conditions. I’d like to thank staff members for their commitment. “Our community needs to know that Dewsbury Hospital has sufficient resources to deal with demand, it seems clear that at times over the festive period they fell short of that mark.” Dewsbury and Mirfield MP Paula
Sherriff added: “I’ve been concerned to hear reports of long waits faced by local people accessing A&E and admissions at Dewsbury Hospital over the festive period. “Well known staffing shortages at the Trust stand to increase waiting times and damage patient safety. “I’m in regular contact with the Trust and I’ve asked the chief executive for an update on pressures being faced and to ask what steps are being taken to address these.”