EMAS Struggles with Increasing Hospital Handover Delays
The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has reported rising hospital handover delays, leading to significant loss of service hours. This alarming trend was revealed during an EMAS board meeting held on October 10th.
EMAS Coverage and Current Challenges
EMAS provides its services to Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Rutland. The situation is particularly worsened in Lincolnshire, with Nottingham University Hospitals also showing increased difficulties in patient handovers.
Statistical Overview of Delays
According to recent data, 3,180 hours have been lost to in the first eight days of October alone, averaging 398 hours lost each day. This figure marks a year-on-year improvement compared to the 5,045 lost hours recorded in October 2022. However, the number of incidents the service dealt with has also risen, with 639 more attendances in the first eight days of October 2023 than in the same period in October 2022.
Ben Holdaway, director of operations, described the situation as a 'deteriorating picture'. He stated, "We are starting to see hospital delays increase again although compared to last year, the amount of hours lost per day is lower."
Negative Impact on Lincolnshire
Holdaway went on to highlight Lincolnshire as a major problem area. "If you look at last week alone, 50 per cent of all our hospital delays were in Lincolnshire. That creates a knock-on effect as we have to drift vehicles from other counties into Lincolnshire," he explained. "Nottingham University Hospitals is the new one on the block with issues arising with handover delays." According to Holdaway, this was not a problem as of last year, and largely attributed the delays to inability to create sufficient capacity due to patient flow
EMAS Chief Executive Speaks Out
Richard Henderson, EMAS chief executive, has also voiced concerns about the delays. He confirmed that the ambulance sector is under 'significant pressure', with eight out of 23 safety incidents reported this year being due to prolonged waits. Henderson emphasized the need to shift activity to the 111 system instead of relying on the 999 system.
"Flow is the main reason there. They are unable to create as much capacity in A&E because of flow out through the door,” Mr Henderson stated. He also highlighted the need for the organisation to hold other system parts accountable for the increasing delays.
Responses from the Board
Perminder Heer, non-executive director, questioned how the service was educating the public on the appropriate channels for medical emergencies to avoid bottlenecking the A&E department. Henderson agreed that the situation was part of a national communications engagement exercise and that some patients are misusing A&E, where they could be treated via other channels.