The previous survey was submitted to the Health Minister & the Compton Health Review, like before this again will be presented to the Health Minister when complete.
You can find the survey here - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KL3532F
To update from the last patient survey that showed some of the most shocking experiences from patients ever recorded in A&E, Save The Mid are now carrying out another survey.
The previous survey was submitted to the Health Minister & the Compton Health Review, like before this again will be presented to the Health Minister when complete. You can find the survey here - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KL3532F
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MId Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone states new A&E at Antrim Area Hospital is 2 years too late, while he may have a point the new A&E at Antrim Area Hospital is 13 years to late, still no bigger than the existing one and still not best geographically placed to serve the needs of the residents it serves.
In 2001 Developing Better services stated Antrim required among other buildings a new A&E. Again in 2006 when A&E services at the Mid Ulster hospital were placed on part time opening hours, this new A&E facility was required but not there.In May 2010 when both Whiteabbey and Mid Ulster lost its A&E's this new build was required but was not there. By the time the new A&E opens it will be 3 years since to total closure of A&E's at the Mid Ulster and Whiteabbey Hospital sites. What is yet to be revealed is:
While the new A&E will be challenged through assembly questions Save The Mid will still challenge that a new A&e is not in the best interests of Mid Ulster residents and is not a life saving service for everyone across the Northern Health & Social Care Trust. McGlone: Proposed New Antrim Emergency Department ‘Two Years Too Late’ SDLP Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone has given a cautious welcome to the unveiling of the proposed design of the new Emergency Department at Antrim Area Hospital. The department is not due to be open until Spring 2013. Mr McGlone said, “The proposed new Emergency Department at Antrim Area Hospital will certainly be a welcome improvement to the facilities currently available. It ticks all the boxes required of a modern state-of-the-art emergency department. “But it is at least two years too late. “This is the sort of investment at Antrim that the Trust and the Minister assured everyone would be made before Accident and Emergency units at other hospitals, like the Mid Ulster at Magherafelt, were closed. “Instead it has taken a very public crisis to develop at Antrim before the required investment is to be made. “What this investment doesn’t do is address the current situation. “The pressure on frontline staff at Antrim Area Hospital will not be alleviated now by the proposed opening of a new Emergency Department a year down the line. “The failings of senior management revealed in the recent reports on the problems at Antrim will not be resolved by this either. “There remain very serious concerns about the situation that was allowed to develop at Antrim. Those concerns have not been addressed by this PR exercise. “I will continue to press the Minister to state clearly what action he is taking to address the negative impact on public confidence in our health service the situation at Antrim has had.” UTV - A protest was held on Friday outside the Northern Trust's headquarters in Ballymena as a meeting took place to discuss the future of the Causeway Hospital.
Belfast Telegraph - Patient fears grow over plan to close Causeway Hospital A&E at night-time Coleraine Times - A PUBLIC meeting to organise a community action campaign to defend acute services at Causeway Hospital will take place on July 4th at 7.30pm in Coleraine Leisure Centre. Coleraine Guardian - Minister ‘foolish’ to believe opposition will diminish - Dallat Mid Ulster Mail – Health Minister challenged Mr Hugh McCloy Save the Mid 1 June 2012 Dear Mr McCloy, Accident & Emergency Services At its meeting on Wednesday 20 June 2012 the Committee will be taking evidence from the Department for Health, Social Services & Public Safety on the work of the A&E Improvement Action Group. At its meeting on Wednesday 31 May the Committee agreed to write seeking your views on the current provision of Accident & Emergency Services and any ideas you would have for improving waiting times. I would be grateful if you could provide me with a response by Wednesday 13 June 2012. Yours sincerely Dr Kathryn Bell Save The Mid's full response will be available to download in due course Governance
Complaints received for April2012 totalled 50, with 39 (78%) being responded to within 20 working days. The target for 2010/11 was 72% within 20 working days and the Trust achieved 64%. The position for May is not yet available. Patients waiting in A&E over 12hrs for treatment must be reported as Serious Adverse Incidents under DHSSPS guidance. There were 240 cases reported to DHSSPS for May 2012. 14 of these cases were related to Ambulance breaches which were attributed to the Trust. Access Targets/Waiting Times Elective In-patients and daycases – As at the 31st May there were 1,612 NHSCT patients waiting over 13 weeks, 409 of which are IS transfers. 248 patients were breaching the Trust Plan backstop positions at the end of May 2012, 111 of which are IS transfers. 75% of total patients were waiting within 13 weeks. (Information validated weekly by operational staff). New backstops applied for quarter 1 2012/13. Out-patients - As at the 31st May there were 5,333 NHSCT patients waiting over 9 weeks, 2,103 of which are IS transfers. An additional 267 patients were waiting over 9 weeks for ICATS specialties. There were 404 patients breaching the Trust Plan backstop positions at the end of May 2012, 174 of which are IS transfers. (Information validated weekly by operational staff) New backstops applied for quarter 1 2012/13. Diagnostics – As at 31st May there were 515 Cardiology patients, 1 Respiratory Physiology and 28 Urodynamic patients waiting over 9 weeks. AHPs - As at 31st May there were 177 patients waiting over 9 weeks, 101 Occupational Therapy, 2 Orthoptics, 47 Physio and 27 Speech & Language. Mental Health waiting list – As at 31st May, there were 107 (CAMHS) patients in breach of the 9 week target. Psychological Therapies continues to be monitored against the 13 week target and there were 12 patients in breach of this target. Accident & Emergency All patients should be seen within 12 hours. During May the Trust had 240 patients in excess of this target. 14 of these breaches were requests to the NI Ambulance Service (NIAS) outside of a 4 hour request target. Within the overall Trust A&E sites there were 73% of patients who had been seen and discharged within 4 hours for May. The target is 95% at each individual site. Both Antrim and Causeway sites continue to fall below the target. An Unscheduled Care Programme Board has been setup including an Improvement group to identify and implement actions for A&E. Responsibility for 12-hour breaches for patients who require ambulance transport from the Emergency Department is as follows: - Where a patient requiring NIAS transport from the Emergency Department waits longer than 12 hours, the breach will be attributed to NIAS if the transport was requested within four hours of the patient presenting to the Emergency Department. - If however the request for ambulance transport is made after four hours of the patient presenting at the Emergency Department, the breach will be attributed to the relevant Trust. This is the first report from Save The Mid, it was created during the closure of Acute services at the Mid Ulster Hospital site.
You can judge for yourself:
Ref: STM/10/0001 HAS THE NORTHERN TRUST, MISLED THE PUBLIC AND THE ASSEMBLY According to hospital statistics as provided by the DHSSPS (link), it shows that in terms of A&E care Antrim hospital was already underachieving in terms of dealing with the input of patients. With the closure of Mid Ulster and White Abbey a&e there will be a greater input of patients from the surrounding areas, in the range of 2500 +. Health Minister, Michael Mc Gimpsey, is already on record stating that the closure of the two sites in Mid Ulster and White Abbey is not based on a financial factor, but based on a factor of health and safety for patients. The following tables in two different formats clearly show that before the closure the health and safety of patients in Antrim hospital was at a critical standing, one that will in the coming months only be added to. Points of Interest · Waiting over 12 hours, Antrim. April 2009 = 17 / April 2010 = 299 · % seen in less than 4 hours, Antrim. April 2009 = 79% / April = 61.1% New Neonatal Unit Antrim is too small by RQIA standards Fears are already sparked before the provision of a new neonatal unit at Antrim Hospital, The Northern Health & Social Care Trust board have passed a new neonatal care unit that will be too small in regards to RQIA standards. The NHSCT and the historical legacy Trusts that governed the Mid Ulster and Antrim Hospital failed to make extra provisions at Antrim Area Hospital post the stripping down of services at Mid Ulster despite health chiefs being warned in 2005 that without development the biggest risk they could undertake was shutting Mid Ulster maternity. The new business case specifically states that the ward had not been developed since 1994, this revelation is worrying enough considering that Mid Ulster lost all of these services in 2006. The business case, (see attachment) was approved by the board without question on the 24th May 2012, despite the warning that the unit size will only have 13 square meters around the cots instead of the RQIA recommended 15 square meters for infection control. Save The Mid responded to this business case at the Northern Health & Social Care Boards monthly meeting on the 24th May, Chairman Hugh McCloy cited that the board had passed a A&E unit which is the same size of the current one, a new mental health ward which is to small according to projected attendances and now the neonatal unit that does not meet RQIA standards, the board did not answer to this question. The last 2 years have seen a total of 92 recommendation’s into maternity services in Northern Ireland, what assurances have we got that 32 recommendations from 2012 will be implemented while we are still waiting from the rest to happen. Since 1999, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust area has seen a 37% drop in the average amount of maternity inpatient beds, there was no extra development when the Route was closed or Mid Ulster maternity was closed (see attachment average beds available). This was a high risk moved as identified in 2005 in a risk assessment so in fact since the inception of the trust in 2007 they have been fully aware that mothers entering into their hospital do so at the risk of Antrim or Causeway not having enough room to admit them. This was later proved by RQIA in 2010 when it stated that within the NHSCT there were 4,493 births within the NHSCT; however 1,813 mothers within the trust boundaries gave birth in another health trust. Potentially there could have been 6,306 births in the NHSCT. Serious doubts would have to be considered if the NHSCT would have the capacity for these deliveries.
Published on Thursday 14 June 2012 00:01 Londonderry Sentinel
ADMINISTRATION staff outnumber doctors three to one in the Western Trust whilst only 5.7 per cent of all staff employed by the local health service perform front line medical functions, it has been revealed. County Londonderry health campaigner Hugh McCloy said the figures showed front line services were being neglected by health trusts and the Health Minister and that whilst there has been a drive since the Review of Public Administration (RPA) to reduce administration clearly more can be done across the health service. The Western Trust has the second lowest ratio of total staff employed as doctors in Northern Ireland with 3.1 clerics for every one doctor. According to the Trust’s own estimate of its full staff complement this means around 713 of 12,500 employees are doctors. Health Minister Edwin Poots revealed that the Trust has the second highest ratio of administration staff to front line medical staff in Northern Ireland: only in the Northern Trust are there more administrators per doctor (3.3 to 1). Equally, it has the second highest proportion of administration staff in terms of its overall workforce with 17.8 per cent. Only Belfast (18 per cent) has more administration staff. Mr McCloy of the Save the Mid campaign claimed the figures showed front line services were being reglected. He commented: “The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) have proudly stated that they are the only Department to have fully implemented RPA, this however has shown to be a farce with these quoted figures and ever increasing management costs across every health trust, Poots must now question why it is costing so much damage to health and answer why he is paying £2k a day for business consults instead of spending it on more medical staff.” Foyle MLA Mark H. Durkan said there was a perception that the local health service was top heavy with adminstration staff, however, he warned that cuts to clerical and administration workers were having an impact on front line services. He told the Sentinel: “There has been a perception for some time that some areas of the health service here have been top heavy with admin.” But he said that any notion of slashing administration to boost front line services would be wrong-headed. “It’s important that we recognise the role of admin,” he commented. “There has been a reduction in the number of administration over the past number of years and this has actually resulted in doctors and nurses being tied up with more paperwork and having less time to focus on front line services. There needs to be a balance.” The Health Minister revealed the new figures for the Western Trust in response to an Assembly Question. He was asked to detail the ratio of administrative staff to front-line medical staff in each Health and Social Care Trust area. Mr Poots replied: “It is not appropriate to compare the ratio of administrative staff to front-line medical staff (i.e. doctors). “The proportion of staff employed for administrative roles against total staff is similar across all Trusts, however, Belfast Trust provide many regional medical services and hence have the highest percentage of medical staff against total staff. Not all Trusts are hospital oriented, and those Trusts with a higher emphasis on community services tend to have a lower percentage of medical staff against total staff. “Those Trusts will therefore have a higher ratio of administrative staff to medical staff, and Trusts with a greater emphasis on hospital services will have a lower ratio of administrative staff to medical staff.” http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/news/local/clerks-outnumber-docs-3-to-1-in-western-trust-1-3945995 Edwin Poots denies the corridor ward at Antrim Hospital where hundreds of patients have been left waiting on trolleys since the removal of A&E services at the Mid Ulster Hospital, Magherafelt.
Edwin Poots knows this ward exists, as Save The Mid spoke of this ward in a face to face meeting with Save The Mid. CEO Sean Donaghy of the Northern Health & Social Care Trust also recognises the existence of this new corridor ward, when asked by Save The Mid on this ward, at Trust Board, Sean Donaghy spent some time explain to the board the location of the wards that are in the below assembly question. This discussion was held in Fern House, Antrim Area Hospital at the monthly Trust board meeting. Why now is the Health Minister saying it does not exist? There are real human beings inside this ward and to deny them is to deny the the Dignity of treatment that they should receive post the Rutter & Hinds report. Antrim Area Hospital Admissions Mr McClarty asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, in relation to the performance figures on emergency care published by his Department, to detail the number of patients at the Antrim Area Hospital admitted to the (i) short stay ward; (ii) clinical decision ward; and (iii) corridor ward located outside the clinical decision ward, between 1 September 2011 and 30 April 2012. (AQW 12478/11-15) Mr Poots: (i) Between 1 September 2011 and 30 April 2012, 614 patients left the Antrim Area Hospital Emergency Department to be admitted to the short stay ward. (ii) The ‘clinical decision ward’ within the Antrim Area hospital, closed in June 2011. (iii) There is no ‘corridor ward located outside the clinical decision ward’ within the Antrim Area Hospital. . No complacency when it comes to safety – Poots We must never be complacent when it comes to patient safety and quality care and continue to improve services.
~ Wednesday, 13 June 2012 That was the message from the Health Minister Edwin Poots as he addressed the Northern Ireland Patient Safety Conference today in the Stormont Hotel, Belfast. Speaking to national and regional experts in patient safety, the Minister said: “I have made clear from my first day as Minister that the underlying objective for the entire health system is to protect and improve the quality of services we deliver. The health service must be safe, effective and totally focussed on the patient. They are at the heart of everything we do. “We must be realistic. While the majority of patients experience care that is safe and of a very high quality, there are occasions, in such highly complex and stressful environments, things will go wrong for many different reasons. The onus is on everyone in the health service to learn from these incidents and minimise, if not completely eradicate the risk of reoccurrence. “It is for that reason that I launched my Department’s quality strategy – Quality 2020. This provides a framework and plan of action to protect and improve quality in health and social care over the next 10 years and beyond. “Of course, there will be challenges ahead, particularly around the financial constraints we face, but there are many opportunities to improve what we do and make the health service more effective. We must never be complacent, we must always strive for better and continue to question what we do.” Notes to editors: 1. The Department of Health's Quality 2020 strategy, can be found online |
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