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Burley A&E closure puts pressure on Airedale
The closure of Burnley's accident and emergency department has put a "considerable strain" on Airedale Hospital's own A&E provision, according to Airedale NHS Trust chief executive Adam Cairns.
In his latest monthly report to the trust board, he said that, since the Burnley facility closed in November last year, Airedale had seen a 58 per cent rise in acute medical admissions.
He said: "Discussions are under way with East Lancashire Primary Care Trust commissioners seeking some further resources for additional staffing to manage these increased levels and demand."
Director of corporate development Ann Wagner acknowledged there were serious pressures on A&E and said Airedale needed to prioritise the availability of beds and staff numbers in the department.
She noted Airedale had failed to achieve its A&E waiting time target for the fourth month in a row.
This specifies that no less than 98 per cent of patients should be seen within four hours.
Ms Wagner's latest performance report said Airedale's A&E department treated 4,247 people in March, compared to 3,775 in February - an extra 472 patients.
The report's statistics for routine care showed that, in March, eight patients waited more than 20 weeks for treatment in the orthopaedics and gynaecology departments.
Mr Cairns assured trust board members that Airedale always attempted to beat the 14-day time limit within which a patient suspected of having cancer must be seen by a consultant.
Responding to a query by non-executive director David Adam, he said: "We don't want people to wait. Our focus is very much on having no unnecessary delays."
Mr Adam said he understood the target was 14 days, but he would personally like to be seen by a consultant the very next day if his GP thought he might have cancer.
Ms Wagner said all the national targets which the hospital was expected to adhere to were minimum standards of performance. She said the hospital therefore aimed to provide a better service than was required.
Airedale recorded two more cases of the MRSA bug in March, bringing the total number of instances of the illness in the hospital to 12 in the last 12 months. Ms Wagner noted that one of these cases was originally acquired in Skipton Hospital.
She said the number was small compared to other hospitals in the UK, but acknowledged each instance was serious and needed close attention.
She said Airedale recorded 27 cases of the clostridium difficile infection in March, making a total of 235 cases for the last 12-months.
1:09pm Friday 2nd May 2008
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