Stafford's County Hospital moves step closer to 24-hour A&E

Bosses at University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), which runs the Weston Road hospital, appear to have stepped down from their stance of denying a full-time return at the emergency department.

It comes after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt made a pledge to return the service so as it was providing it was clinically safe whilst on the pre-election campaign trail in Stafford.

At the time the trust remained tight-lipped on the matter because they said the issue had become 'political'.

But now following last week's General Election, the trust appears to have changed its tune when asked on the issue.

Mark Hackett, chief executive at UHNM, said: "We are aware of Jeremy Hunt's pre-election comments regarding the return of 24 hour A&E at County Hospital if it is clinically safe to do so.

"Our current focus is the safe transfer of inpatient paediatric care to the Royal Stoke on 18 May alongside the opening of new services at County Hospital.

"Once this has safely taken place we will be in a position to consider, with our various health partners, the long-term strategy for A&E at Stafford."

The statement marks a significant change from the trust's previous stance on the matter.

During an interview in February, Mr Hackett categorically denied there was any intention to extend the operating hours.

At the time he said: "There are absolutely no plans to make it a 24-hour A&E.

"It has been closed overnight since 2011 and operating at 14 hours for a while now.

"We can't appoint the sufficient doctors at night.

"The public needs to understand the services behind A&E which enable it to function.

"As we move this hospital to be a modern local hospital there isn't the requirement for a full blown A&E."

But it seems Mr Hunt's visit to Stafford in April may have changed that and the now a 24-hour A&E is could be back on the table.

The Health Secretary said the move was his 'commitment to the people of Stafford' providing it was clinically safe.

County Hospital's A&E is currently open from 8am to 10pm and in recent weeks the site has met the required benchmark for 95 per cent of patients being seen within four hours.

The hospital had fell well below the target during the winter months when it was besieged by patients.

But the 24-hour operating department at Royal Stoke University Hospital, also overseen by UHNM, has not met the target in the last 12 months with performance dropping as low as 70 per cent of people seen within the required time.

As a result, the trust's combined performance for the two hospitals is down at 83 per cent overall.