Long waits likely in busy next few weeks at Walsall Manor A&E
Attendances at Walsall Manor Hospital's A&E department were not as high as feared this weekend, but bosses have warned busier times could be ahead.
On Friday bosses anticipated up to 500 people would come through the doors on Saturday and Sunday. They issued a warning that people may face long waits to be seen at the hospital's A&E unit.
However the actual number was around 20 per cent less than expected with 407 patients recorded.
There were 194 patients on Saturday and a further 213 on Sunday.
Nevertheless health chiefs have declared the next few weeks are likely to be busier than usual for the Manor.
Philip Thomas-Hands, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust's chief operating officer, said it was always busy in January.
He said: "This time of year is always a challenge as people with ongoing conditions become quite poorly and need our expertise, especially in the evenings and at weekends.
"They tend to stay quite a while in hospital then so the hospital fills up rapidly causing less and less beds to be available to the ED teams as the days go on.
"We have plans in place, with our partners, to try and manage this extremely busy period as best we can."
