A&E Wrexham Maelor
-
Posts
-
So the picture the BCUHB gives us regarding numbers visiting A&E isn’t totally true , the data shown at the end of the news article on Wrexham.com shows the number of patients visits to the Maelor Hospital A&E monthly since 2018. In the past there have been almost 6000 visits some months compared to 4800 in July 2022. So a department which could cope with a much larger number of patients and now can’t deal with less. The reason is staffing .
It’s the management’s job to recruit and retain staff, if they can’t do that they are failing and should be replaced . Staff leaving because of stress, impossible working conditions and management politics , is a reflection on the BCUHB not the staff. There is a finite limit on how much work one person can do!
Figures can be looked at in many ways – if you look at the 6000 figure and the number in July – as a percentage more people were seen in July within the necessary period when it was 6000- so the speed of being seen is actually quicker.
There are clearly lots of things going wrong and it may well be that managers (too many) need to listen more to those at the sharp end as they often have the solutions if only they were listened to.
There is still the issue over too many people turning up that should not be there- it may be because they can’t get to see their GP or that they don’t know that chemists can provide a wide range of services, or basic soap and water with cotton wool is all that’s needed for their child’s cuts and grazes. Public need educating.
Statistics can be interpreted in many ways but less attendees with the same staffing ratio should equal improving outcomes for patients.The reality is different, the direction of travel is a downward trend.
So Ms Atherton has been round has been around the hospital and again having a go at the Welsh Government (clearly thy are not blameless for the Health Service in Wales). If she listened to one of the key messages from any hospital, they will say they can’t recruit Doctors. It is her Conservative Government that set the quota numbers for the training of Doctors – this year it is 10,000 yet the Royal College of Physicians has said it needs to be closer to 15,000 due to a rapidly ageing workforce with 25% of Doctors now over the age of 55 so returning in 10/12 years.
The UK Conservative Government need to get her future demand sorted now – remember in 6 years training for a Dr and 10m for a consultant.
The staffing shortage is also compounded with Brexit and a number of crucial foregoing worker who were in our Health and Social Care services now returned to their home country. Can Ms Atherton expalin why the tarining spaces are not available now!
I had to visit A&E as a relative was in following a fall on Friday, not sure on the numbers, but at 9am,2pm and 8pm the same faces were waiting!
I worked nights and weekends as a Security Officer at the Maelor A&E pre-lockdown. Even then it was not unusual for people to be waiting for up to 12 hours for treatment. However, to have more than a couple of ambulances waiting to discharge into A&E was unusual.
I regularly pass the hospital on the way to work and once i have watched the people parking up to use the car park and get a bus or walk into town, see queues of ambulances outside A&E.
Last week i saw two parked in the layby because there wasn’t room.You cannot lay blame on Brexit because it has been rubbish for many years. Apart from that, how many EU people have settled here to make families and add to NHS woes?
When doctors, specialists etc. also work part time in the private sector, it says a lot about staff retention.
Quite apart from EU settlers there are 1,000s of new houses built causing difficulies with GP surgeries, schools etc. The last couple of times I have had cause to attend A&E over recent years there were prisoners from Berwyn who appear to take priority over those waiting unless they have their own waiting room.
People need to be very careful when they associated EU settlers with problems in the Health Service. There is a very real likelihood that if you go to any hospital departments you will be looked after by at least one foreign national – either as admin, nurse or Doctor. Foreign nationals have been the lifeline for Health Services in this country for many years and are settled and part of OUR community.
What do you want to do – repatriate them to their mother country (bear in mind many have been born in the UK) the alternative is to have much longer waiting times- Repalcement trained staff will take years to get to the necessary standard.
Regarding the broader issue of settlers in the area they are contributing to the economic development of the area, paying taxes, and helping to keep many businesses in the area that could move to other locations if they did not have an adequate number of workers. Wrexham still has more jobs that number of unemployed – problem is they don’t meet the skill requirements
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
