logo
Ambulance handover delays unacceptable

Ambulance handover delays unacceptable

Yahoo18-03-2025

Ambulance crews in a single week faced more than 1,800 hours of delays in handing over patients to a hospital trust's A&E departments, according to a report.
The figures from February emerged at a board meeting of the NHS trust that runs Royal Stoke and Stafford's County hospitals, and were branded "unacceptable" by chief executive Simon Constable.
The board of University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) also heard that during another week last month, ambulance patients faced an average handover time of more than two hours.
Members heard the trust had continued to face challenging winter conditions since critical incidents were declared in December and January.
Mr Constable, at the latest board meeting on Wednesday, said there had been "a really difficult few weeks".
He said: "As we went into winter there has been problem after problem ever since."
Factors that "dented" resilience included infectious diseases including flu, Covid, RSV and norovirus.
He said: "While there are external factors, there are a lot of things we need to fix from an internal point of view."
Ambulance holds – or handover delays – saw 1,729 hours lost in the week commencing 27 January and 1,806 hours lost in the week commencing 24 February, he said.
That figure fell to 936 hours lost in the week commencing 3 March, the meeting heard.
Mr Constable said: "There has been a significant improvement. That's the best figure we have had since December. But that is still unacceptable."
The trust has brought in an urgent and emergency care recovery director to help improve performance and there is an improvement plan in place.
Actions have included standing down non-urgent elective work where possible to increase capacity.
Outpatient appointments were also stood down to allow emergency department teams to provide support, board papers said.
Work is taking place to increase the number of patient discharges to free up bedspace, and an extra 50 beds have opened at community hospitals.
This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.
Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hospital bosses apologise after ambulance delays
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Kennedy names new members of CDC vaccine advisory panel days after removing previous advisers
Kennedy names new members of CDC vaccine advisory panel days after removing previous advisers

CNN

time21 minutes ago

  • CNN

Kennedy names new members of CDC vaccine advisory panel days after removing previous advisers

Just two days after retiring the entirety of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed several prominent critics of the government's Covid-19 response to that committee. He announced eight new members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, on Wednesday. Kennedy had said Monday that the previous 17-member panel that makes recommendations on who should get vaccines and when was rife with conflicts of interest and that he would appoint new 'highly credentialed' experts in time for the panel's June 25 meeting, at which the members are expected to discuss guidance for Covid-19 and HPV shots, among others. In a statement Wednesday, Kennedy said the reassembled panel will demand 'definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations, but will also review data for the current vaccine schedule as well.' The eight new ACIP members include Dr. Robert Malone, a biochemist who made early innovations in the field of messenger RNA but in more recent years has been a vocal critic of mRNA technology in Covid-19 vaccines. The CDC recently narrowed its recommendations for mRNA Covid-19 shots, but some advocates in the Make America Healthy Again space have pressed Kennedy to go further and bar the vaccines entirely. Another new member is Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who co-authored an October 2020 strategy on herd immunity known as the Great Barrington Declaration with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, now director of the US National Institutes of Health. Both Malone's and Kulldorff's names were circulated early in the second Trump administration as potential advisers on ACIP or other panels, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak with CNN. Kennedy also chose Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician he described as a 'strong advocate for evidence-based medicine' who has served on hospital committees and medical executive boards. Dr. Retsef Levi, an MIT professor who has published studies on mRNA vaccines and cardiovascular events, is also joining the panel. Levi is a professor of operations management. Several of the new members have served in federal health agencies previously, including Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a former acting chief of the NIH's section on nutritional neurosciences. Dr. Cody Meissner, a Dartmouth professor of pediatrics who also signed the Great Barrington Declaration, has previously served on ACIP and on the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, the Pacific region director of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, also served on the FDA committee and on a national panel reviewing the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine. Dr. Michael Ross, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, has previously served on the CDC's Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer. Kennedy also nodded in his statement to Ross' 'continued service on biotech and healthcare boards.' The private equity company Havencrest, in which Ross is an operating partner, describes him on its site as a 'serial CEO' who has served on the boards of several biotechnology companies.

RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic
RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic

Boston Globe

timean hour ago

  • Boston Globe

RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic

The new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots. He's even suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Advertisement Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Advertisement Kennedy made the announcement in The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope of vaccination programs. Associated Press reporter Amanda Seitz contributed to this report.

RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic
RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic

Chicago Tribune

timean hour ago

  • Chicago Tribune

RFK Jr. names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic

NEW YORK — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and transformed into a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, and a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns. Kennedy's decision to 'retire' the previous 17-member panel was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations. The new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots. He's even suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope of vaccination programs.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store