They all got in the act.

They all got in on the act – here’s the Deputy Chief Executives report:

The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that the Trust did not meet the four hour waiting time target in quarter four. The Deputy Chief Executive expressed disappointment at this performance after the improvement noted in the previous three quarters of the year and highlighted to the Board the national context with severe pressures in meeting the A&E target at present.

That’s naughty, because I don’t think it did get better last year.

The Deputy Chief Executive assured the Board that the emergency department was a much improved working environment than in previous years with some strong appointments having been made to substantive positions with a new Associate Director of Nursing, Associate Director of Operations and Speciality Lead now in place and that these posts were starting to deliver real change.

This bit is interesting too – if they are getting fined for holding up the ambulances too long, that means the A and E waiting times are being flattered as patients clocks aren’t yet ticking, while they wait outside:

A priority for 2013/14 was the improvement of ambulance hand-over times with slow turnaround times leading to financial penalties in 2013/14. If 2012/13 performance was replicated in 2013/14 this would lead to fines of c£780k. However, current performance was positive with the Trust in the top two or three in the South East at present.

The Chairman sought assurance on the current position and the likelihood of achievement of the target. The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that issues with the Patient Transport System and the new telephone 111 service had meant that achievement of the target in April was challenging however the complex discharges were reducing each day and were now down to 50-55.

The Board NOTED the report.

I’ve noted the report too, but I haven’t got to the bottom of it yet. Tomorrow I’ll take a close look at the Boards own figures.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

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