Winter pressure saw ambulance service lose 730 hours

The figures were revealed at a meeting of the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group in Colchester where chief officer Sam Hepplewhite spoke about winter pressures.

In total, ambulance workers spent 730 hours waiting at Colchester General Hospital for beds to become available so they could leave patients in the care of hospital staff.

Miss Hepplewhite said the NHS in north east Essex had coped well compared to previous years despite high levels of staff sickness and a stark rise in patient numbers compared to the previous winter.

She said: “Our planning was much more robust than in previous years but one thing we did not take into account was the level of sickness we were going to see among staff.

“We also saw the amount of patients being taken to A&E with major health problems rise by

20 per cent compared to the previous winter period.”

She added the increase was caused mainly by people going to hospital with respiratory, bowel and cardio complaints.

The numbers show the pressure for the period from December 11 until January 6.

But Miss Hepplewhite said north east Essex had come through the period well considering the high-risk rating given to it by NHS England based on recent history.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “We work in partnership with all hospitals across the region, including the team at Colchester General Hospital, to tackle hospital handovers and ensure patients are given the best service possible.

“The whole of the NHS experiences higher levels of pressure during the winter, which is why system partners work together to solve these issues.

“One example of this was where the trust staff worked with hospitals to develop five patient safety intervention teams to minimise patient wait and maximise

ambulance availability. Patient safety and care is paramount and we will always work with

hospitals to ensure this is put at

the forefront of everything we

do when handing a patient

over.”