Long waiting times ahead at Manor Hospital A&E

The Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has been in trouble repeatedly over the last few years for not hitting the Government benchmark of seeing 95 per cent of patients in under four hours. The department has not hit that target since May 2015 and has plummeted to lows of 74 per cent. Currently 85 per cent of visitors are seen on time.

A trust report, which predicts performance for the rest of this year, reveals that no more than 90 per cent of patients are expected to be seen within four hours.

And nearly one-in-five patients could face longer waits than necessary during December and January, it sstates.

More than 6,000 patients on average walk through the doors of the A&E every month.

Walsall Council’s health chief Ian Robertson said: “They are not going to hit their targets, as aren’t a number of hospitals. They are struggling with all of the other pressures, people trying to get appointments and the pressure from the Stafford area as well.

“It is important that only the right sort of people attend the hospital for the necessary treatment. A lot of people are turning up to A&E when it is not appropriate.

“The key thing to success in the future is trying to get as many people treated at home as possible.”

Philip Thomas-Hands, trust chief operating officer, said: “We know that winter will be a busy time for our Emergency Department and we are continually working with our partners across the health economy to develop a Winter Plan to ensure we all have measures in place to deal with the challenges that the season brings.

“We last achieved 95 per cent (95.07 per cent) across the whole month in May 2015 and achieved this for the day most recently on June 16, 2017.

“Our four-hour target has been set and agreed locally based on past performance and takes account of the number of attendances forecast and the staffing shortages that affect Trusts all over the country.”