04.09.14
Monitor to investigate York NHS Trust over A&E and cancer waits
Monitor is to investigate York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust because of fears that its repeated failures to ensure patients are seen quickly could indicate wider problems in how the trust is run.
The health regulator says the trust, which provides a range of acute hospital and specialist health care services in Yorkshire, has failed to meet the quarterly national A&E waiting time target for the fifth time in nearly two years and there is evidence that some patients are waiting too long to be seen once referred for cancer treatment.
Although the trust has plans in place to improve its A&E performance and to cut cancer waiting times, Monitor is concerned that it has taken too long to fix these serious issues.
Frances Shattock, regional director at Monitor, said: “It is simply not acceptable for patients to be waiting too long in A&E or to be seen following a cancer referral. That’s why we are opening an investigation to understand the issues and, if necessary, make sure the trust makes urgent improvements on behalf of its patients.”
In response to the investigation announcement, the trust’s chief executive, Patrick Crowley, said that the difficulties in A&E are well-documented, and in many ways this action by Monitor is inevitable given the pressures the trust is facing.
“Not all A&E attendances are emergencies, and our patients can be reassured that we prioritise and quickly treat those most in need of care. There needs to be a recognition that this is a whole-system issue and not one that can only be resolved through changes in either A&E or the wider acute pathway within our hospitals,” he said.
“We of course have a responsibility to play our part in solving the problem, and we are making investments such as the new ambulance assessment area, and trying new ways of working to improve the way that patients move through the system.”
Crowley added that action has been taken, in certain areas, to cut waiting times already. For instance, problems recruiting key staff in Scarborough for breast care had led to difficulties delivering services and since July referrals have been directed to York. He added that the trust staff and management will work with Monitor in completing its investigation.
Monitor will announce the outcome of its regulatory investigation in due course.
(Library image: c. Alistair Wilson/PA)
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