UNPRECEDENTED pressure on East Surrey Hospital is causing accident and emergency department waiting times to rise, and more operations to be cancelled.
Admissions to the emergency department over the first four months of this year were almost 10 per cent up on 2012. In March there were 7,100 – almost 1,000 more than in January – leading to exceptional pressure on the hospital and its beds. The hospital was full going into April, but admittance rates remained high. Last month 120 ambulances arrived every day – compared to the average figure of 95.
In April, one in ten patients arriving at A&E was not being dealt with within four hours – missing the national target of 95 per cent. The number of cancelled elective operations rose from 31 in January to 80 in the first 29 days of April.
The strain is so acute, hospital chief executive Michael Wilson has urged dying elderly patients to be treated at home rather than being rushed to hospital.
"There are times when the emergency department is absolutely the right place to be, but for some people it might not be the best place," he said. "I'm thinking here of our very sick elderly patients who might prefer to spend their last days in the familiar surroundings of their home or care home, and we need to work with our partners in social care to ensure patients are getting the healthcare they need in the way that they choose."
Hospital bosses do not know why there has been such a rise, but say it is reflected nationally.
"I want to apologise to those patients who haven't had the experience we'd like them to have due to the high demand for our emergency service," said Mr Wilson. "I would like to sincerely apologise to patients who have had a longer than expected wait or had their elective surgery cancelled."
