NHS reacts as 21 ambulances queue outside Royal Stoke A&E

NHS bosses insist 'processes are in place' when patients are stranded in ambulances outside Stoke-on-Trent's main hospital. Twenty-one ambulances were counted queuing outside A&E at the Royal Stoke University Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

It came just two days after the Royal Stoke had stood down its latest critical incident after stabilising A&E and discharging higher numbers of medically-fit patients.

It is not the first time ambulances have been pictured queuing outside Royal Stoke A&E.

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Royal Stoke chief operating officer Simon Evans said: “We work closely with West Midlands Ambulance Service to ensure ambulance crews are able to handover patients into the clinical care of teams at Royal Stoke as quickly as possible. This allows paramedic crews to get back on the road to respond to 999 calls at the earliest opportunity.

“At peak times, we can see a large number of ambulances arrive within a short timeframe. We do have processes in place to ensure the safety and experience of patients is prioritised at these times.

“We continue to work with system partners to make sure they are doing everything they can to prevent people having to come to hospital when they can be cared for in the community and the appropriate support is available at home as soon as a patient is ready to be discharged – this will help to release our hospital beds.

“The public can continue to help us manage these periods of demand by ensuring they are seeking help from the most appropriate health services and only attending A&E for serious accidents and emergencies. If you are unwell, visit NHS 111 online for 24/7 advice about the most appropriate care for your need.”

The Royal Stoke queues have previously resulted in paramedics taking longer to reach patients across North Staffordshire - and sometimes with deadly consequences.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We rely on each part of the health and social care system working together so that our ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly. If our crews are left caring for patients outside hospital, they are not available to respond to the next call as quickly as we would all want.

“There is a direct correlation between response times and hospital handover delays, something highlighted in the recent Care Quality Commission report into the trust. If our crews are left caring for patients outside hospital, they are not available to respond to the next call and that is why our performance is not where we would want it to be.

“Not only do delays impact the care we are able to provide to patients but they also affect our staff, who often miss meal breaks and regularly finish late, which can have a significant bearing on their home life.”

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