Frimley NHS chief ‘nervous’ for winter as 85,000 people sit on waiting lists

Around 85,000 patients are waiting for treatment at NHS Frimley Health hospitals including Wexham Park - with a health trust boss ‘nervous’ about a surge in demand over winter.

Many people are ‘still waiting far too long’ for treatment and 4,000 have been waiting more than 52 weeks, a meeting of the trust running the Slough hospital heard last week. 

Colder months are approaching and – although plans are in place to cope – questions were raised over hospital staff’s ability to deliver ‘consistently good safe care’.

At NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust’s board meeting in Wexham Park Hospital on Friday (November 1), chief operating officer Ellis Pullinger discussed preparedness for winter.

NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust runs Wexham Park Hospital, Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot and Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.

Responding to a question from board member John Lisle on the trust’s ability to cope with the coming months Mr Pullinger said: “‘Am I nervous?’ - the answer to that is yes.”

He said the trust’s ‘robust’ plan for the past year had led to a reduction in waiting lists but cautioned emergency departments were under ‘significant pressure’.

Mr Pullinger said: “When it comes to actually delivering consistently good safe care, the current position at the moment clearly is a concern.”

NHS Frimley Health has a winter plan to help hospitals cope with increases in demand over colder winter months – which could include opening more beds.

Mr Pullinger said issues with Raac (Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) at Frimley Park meant there was little scope to open more beds there.

He added: “[On] the Wexham Park [Hospital] end, there is more space opportunities and that’s where a lot of our escalation beds come out from.

“Again, the issue for us is we can always open more beds based on demand and safety but I would just bring the board back to the point - our current length of stay is just over nine days.

“So, there is a risk that if we react and change and move more patients into those escalation beds I suspect from experience some of that length of stay will actually go up not down.

“You may see a short-term benefit but over time that may become more problematic for us.”

The board also discussed whether Slough Urgent Care Centre in Priors Close could be used to help although ‘there were costs associated with that’, considered Mr Pullinger.

“I think it would be inappropriate for me - particularly on behalf of our staff and certainly our colleagues in our emergency care department - if I was to reflect a slightly more upbeat position on this,” he said.

“I don’t think that probably would be recognised by some of our staff and really importantly some of our patients.”

NHS trusts across the country are grappling with long-waiting lists.

At the meeting, Mr Pullinger said NHS Frimley Health had around 85,000 people on its PTL waiting list and 4,000 of these had been waiting for more than 52 weeks.

He said: “There’s still clearly lots more to do and I just want to acknowledge, as we’re in a public board [meeting], those patients are waiting far too long and there’s a commitment to work down on that.”