February 18, 2019 9.38 am This story is over 61 months old

Hospital trust fails to meet A&E target for half a decade

It also missed other waiting time targets
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The trust which runs Lincolnshire’s hospitals has failed to meet its A&E waiting time target for nearly half a decade.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust missed its target for admitting or treating a patient in four hours by 32%.

The trust has not met the national standard of 95% since September 2014 and has the worst A&E waiting times in the country.

Meanwhile, ULHT also missed its targets on cancer care and emergency operations.

According to latest figures, 69.2% of patients began cancer treatment with ULHT within 62 days of an urgent GP referral, which is 16% off target.

The trust also missed its target of 92% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks for a planned operation or non-emergency treatment by 9%..

The last time ULHT met its target for planned operations was June 2016.

ULHT chief operating officer Mark Brassington. Photo: Lincolnshire Reporter

Mark Brassington, chief operating officer at the trust. said ULHT accepted that its performance is “not where it should be”.

“Over the last year we have seen more patients using our services, often above national increases, which has placed pressure on all of our hospitals,” he said.

“We also have workforce challenges, which reflect national shortages of staff across a range of specialities and like many rural areas we have been particularly affected by this.

“We accept that our performance is not where it should be in our emergency departments, and other areas resulting in a delay to see, treat and admit patients as quickly as we would like.

“We have started to implement a comprehensive improvement programme with support from our national as well as local health and social care partners.

Lincoln County Hospital Photo: Steve Smailes/Lincolnshire Reporter

 

“We continue to address our challenges head on in order to improve services for our patients.”

He added that quality of care and patient safety remains the trust’s “top priority”.

Meanwhile, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Trust, which runs hospitals in Scunthorpe and Grimsby, also failed to meet its waiting time targets.

80.5% of A&E patients were admitted in northern Lincolnshire while 78.7% of patients began cancer treatment within 62 days.

The trust also missed its target of 92% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks for an operation by 20%.

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