Agenda item

A & E Wait Times

Presentation by the Director of Performance, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Minutes:

The Director of Performance, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, gave a presentation (previously circulated) updating Members on Accident and Emergency (A&E) wait times.

 

Reference was made to the A&E four hour standard, Members were informed that following the peak of the winter pressure period, performance had been improving throughout March; and there had been no 12 hour trolley waits during March.

 

The presentation outlined the new Emergency Department (ED) measures; Members were informed that there had been a reduction in patients waiting more than 12 hours in Darlington Memorial Hospital (DMH) ED, with a decreased from 9.3 a per cent in January to 5.5 per cent in March; and overall in March, 72 per cent of patients had been assessed within 15 minutes of arrival.

 

It was reported that a key area of focus was ED and ambulance handover and Members noted that handover times for March were 37 minutes for Darlington and 33 minutes for Durham, against a target of less than 30 minutes. Reference was made to the range of improvement actions in place, including dedicated clinical and management support for the ED to enhance the quality and safety of the services, recruitment of junior doctors and increased bed base; and details were provided of rag ratings for the improvement actions.

 

Members questioned the impact of pressures in other regional ED’s on Darlington and were informed that a Local Delivery Board was in place to monitor A&E performance and work was being undertaken by the ICB to ensure the right infrastructure was in the right place.

 

Discussion ensued regarding the timeline for the additional wards in Durham and Darlington and triage and discharge pathways.

 

RESOLVED – That the Director of Performance, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, be thanked for her informative presentation.

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