Hospital A&E at breaking point

12:53pm Tuesday 6th November 2012 in News

A&E patients will be shipped out to Brentwood and Billericay as Basildon Hospital’s emergency department creaks at the seams.

Bosses at NHS South Essex have authorised the reopening of closed wards at Brentwood Community Hospital and Billericay’s Mayflower Hospital this winter because Basildon is struggling to cope with the number of people coming in.

The hospital – which serves Thurrock – has seen a 9 per cent increase in admissions compared to 2011 levels and expects that figure to grow as temperatures fall.

Eight beds at Mayflower and 25 in Brentwood, which were closed last year as part of a cost-cutting drive to save £1.36million, will be reopened to meet the demand.

At a meeting of the hospital’s board, new chief executive Clare Panniker said: “There is no strong grip on what’s driving the increase in admissions or analysis to pin down the source.

“Lots of trusts have seen increases of two, three and 4 per cent, but we have seen 9 per cent, which is unusual.”

Adam Sewell-Jones, finance director, added: “This is good news as it will relieve some of the pressure, but it’s not going to solve the problem.” The extra wards, which open on November 19, will be occupied by patients who need long-term treatment.

The hospital has missed its performance target of seeing all A&E patients within 60 minutes, with some waiting as much as five hours to be treated.

Fines of £140,000 from the Government could follow.

Hospital trust chairman Ian Luder told the board it could not solve the crisis alone and needed help from higher authorities.

He said: “We need action now to prepare for next winter because this is not going to go away.”

Comments(22)

Freddy K says...
1:46pm Tue 6 Nov 12

Why does this story not surprise me, Thurrock and the surrounding area is becoming more heavily populated and the services are not able to cope, no thought has been put into any external services, be that hospitals, schools etc, when building new accommodations.

This situation will get worse until TBC pull their heads out of the sand and develop more needed community services rather than keep building houses.

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claysman says...
7:27pm Tue 6 Nov 12

it dont take much working out we build more houses, flats that means more people living here but we have no extra hospitals so where do all these people go when they are ill yet again TBC just thinking about all the extra money they will get. Get off your fat **** and think of the people of thurrock and build another hospital or re open orsett

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Mr Disgusted says...
8:45pm Tue 6 Nov 12

I for one am not at all surprised at this...........It doe not need working out that the more homes/flats you build in Thurrock and Basildon you gonna need a bigger Hospital!!!!!!!.
Have anybody who is so-called ment tobe running this NHS service got any bloody brains!!!!!!!cos I really do not think they have.....
I had my mother in Basildon only for three days BUT with no food or drink for over 24 hours!!!!!!!!YES and being diabetic too!!!!!!!!.
For god sake get a Hospital in Thurrock and for ONLY Thurrock people why the hell did they close Orsett when everybody said DON'T!!!!!!

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claysman says...
10:47pm Tue 6 Nov 12

COME ON PEOPLE OF THURROCK AT SOME TIME WILL ARE GOING TO ALL NEED TO GO TO HOSPITAL AS IT IS NOW THERE IS NO ROOM AND YOU WILL BE LEFT WAITING ITS TIME FOR THE COUNCIL TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE THAT VOTE THEM IN PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THURROCK AND TAKE ACTION NOW OR IT WILL BE ON YOUR SHOULDERS TAKE ACTION NOW

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Thurrock Trojan says...
11:15pm Tue 6 Nov 12

Build a new hospital for Thurrock on the cricket green in North Stifford. Problem solved.

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Thurrock Trojan says...
11:19pm Tue 6 Nov 12

In all seriousness, Thurrock, Basildon and surrounding areas are expanding rapidly but no thought has gone into hospitals, local GP surgeries, schools and roads.

Basildon Hospital clearly cannot cope and cuts to the NHS have added to problems at the hospital.

Thurrock urgently needs more local GP surgeries, its own hospital and more schools. Will Government listen? Of course not!

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ebagumtrebor says...
8:44am Wed 7 Nov 12

The NHS now spends £126 billion a year which is £72 billion a year more than they did 11 years ago. Can anyone in the NHS explain where the extra £72 billion is going. People bang on about cuts to the NHS but they are actually spending £8 billion a year more now than when this government came to power. So where are the cuts? Why are they struggling to cope. They get an extra £1,250 per year per person to treat the original population of this country before the Labour party introduced this country to mass immigration. We all know the answer. No one is prepared to introduce the solution.

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gonetothedogs says...
9:25am Wed 7 Nov 12

It was a sad day when Orsett Hospital was demolished because they saved my life and as for Basildon I give them a very wide berth due to being man handled several times there and now I never accept appointments for that joint!
Basildon is a "Butchers Shop".
We need a hospital like Darent Valley in Kent..efficient,mode
rn and a real pleasure to get things sorted.
Get your finger out TBC and start spending some of your money on Urgent Hospital Facilities that we had when Orsett was still in existence.!
We demand a decent hospital for Thurrock before you decide to build more homes so get your finger out and get the Infrastructure in place before we accept more residents here!

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Kezza25 says...
10:47am Wed 7 Nov 12

I'm sorry, but I'm driving the immigration bandwagon! My husband was rushed into Basildon hopsital last month with life-threatening conditions, he was left on a ward for 7 hours with only HCA's monitoring him, whilst waiting, a massive fight had broken out between a load of Polish people moaning that they were waiting and the rest of the ward staff were having to deal with it. Through all stages of A&E we were in the minority. The NHS is just not cut out to deal with us and the huge influx of immigrants who are draining our services. Shoot me down if you think I'm being racist, I like to think I'm being a realist.

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gonetothedogs says...
11:45am Wed 7 Nov 12

Kezza25 wrote:
I'm sorry, but I'm driving the immigration bandwagon! My husband was rushed into Basildon hopsital last month with life-threatening conditions, he was left on a ward for 7 hours with only HCA's monitoring him, whilst waiting, a massive fight had broken out between a load of Polish people moaning that they were waiting and the rest of the ward staff were having to deal with it. Through all stages of A&E we were in the minority. The NHS is just not cut out to deal with us and the huge influx of immigrants who are draining our services. Shoot me down if you think I'm being racist, I like to think I'm being a realist.
I'm in full agreement Kezza25 and as far as I'm concerned all immigrants should pay for any treatment they receive..after all they only want to get into this Country because of the "Soft" stupid, inane laws that we have here.
I have a friend who has brain tumours and really needs an MRI scan (due to health deterioration)but they simply can't afford to give the treatment needed and this is where all the problems arise.
Make the immigrants pay...that way they will be loathe to seek medical attention if they have a "sore head" from too much booze which they strangely can afford!
I hope your Husband's health has improved.

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jb411 says...
11:54am Wed 7 Nov 12

A few weeks ago my 90 year old mother who suffers from dementia, had a fall at home - paramedic on a bike came and assessed her, said she should go to hospital for an x-ray as he thought her ankle was broken. He called for an ambulance whilst he was there and told us to call again if it hadn't turned up in half an hour - we called several times and 7 hours later three ambulances showed up. Then after all that we waited at Basildon hospital for over 3 hours, she was triaged and then that was it for ages. I agree with the other posts - the council MUST consider when granting planning permission for new flats which seem to be springing up on every piece of spare land, that the hospital cannot cope and neither can the schools. It's not rocket science is it? too many people living in one area served by one hospital. Madness.

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fletch12107 says...
1:51pm Wed 7 Nov 12

It is a NATIONAL health service not an INTERNATIONAL health service. If you require treatment in most other countries then you have to pay. All foreigners should pay for their treatment as should anyone coming into A&E under the influence of drink and drugs that are not a victim.

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Bernard 87 says...
3:10pm Wed 7 Nov 12

The NHS is inefficient, open to 'health tourist' abuse and employs a great deal of staff (many of them from abroad) whose standards of politeness and care should be questioned.

Unfortunately no new hospital will open in Thurrock for years to come regardless of how many houses and flats get dumped here or in Basildon. Orsett cannot be reopened into a major hospital as that land has already been developed for housing so the only option is to ease the burden by enlarging Brentwood hospital and making that a smaller A&E hospital.

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gonetothedogs says...
4:02pm Wed 7 Nov 12

fletch12107 wrote:
It is a NATIONAL health service not an INTERNATIONAL health service. If you require treatment in most other countries then you have to pay. All foreigners should pay for their treatment as should anyone coming into A&E under the influence of drink and drugs that are not a victim.
Well it appears we are all in agreement about the Hospitals or lack of should I say, and I am appalled that so many people are struggling to get the Service that the NHS stands for.
The upshot is that we have been "Bled Dry" by giving a free service to those who are NOT entitled to it!
fletch12107 is absolutely right about the abuse that drink and drugs bring every day,not to mention the weekend bingers who frequent the hospitals regularly due to lack of brain cells.
They must be seen first (I suppose) because of the upset that their behaviour causes to patients who are ill with genuine problems, and for the life of me cannot understand why these things are allowed to happen.
As far as I'm concerned they should be left to rot in their own puke on a park bench,alcohol poisoning..so what! We must get the real patients seen ASAP,after all, seldom have I seen anyone actually enjoying sitting in that pathetic "Butchers Shop" just for the crack.
So it is time to "pay as you go" for the sots, drug addicts,and immigrants.They must fork out for any and all treatment they receive and that will save the NHS an absolute fortune just on these three statistics alone.
Time to make a stand and take back what is Ours.

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Freddy K says...
11:01am Thu 8 Nov 12

Unfortunately under current EU laws any international visitor in this country is entitled to primary care (GP) without any checks being made upon them, the problem then comes when the GP refers them to the hospitals, what is meant to happen is they the Hospitals are meant to check if that person is entitled to secondary care without payment, these checks are not being conducted so they are getting free treatment.

The UK need to pull away from these EU laws and stop the overloading of our NHS system, those who have paid their stamp can get treatment those that dont should pay up front for treatment or be covered by a health insurance.

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Mamma Mia says...
2:06pm Thu 8 Nov 12

Don't worry, good people of Thurrock - we can always rely on the walk-in centre in Grays, but don't expect to come out alive!

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Marcus P says...
5:00pm Thu 8 Nov 12

After reading these posts I am confused. Numerous LIB/LAB/CON politicos have assured me immigrants are all highly skilled high wage earners who pay loads of taxes which offset burdens to the NHS. In fact they are doing the jobs that thick lazy white British won’t do.

It now appears that most immigrants are in low skilled low paid jobs paying hardly any tax or even unemployed. Their unemployment rates are far higher than the White British.

I know it is impossible for any UK citizen to get free medical treatment in Poland and numerous other EU countries. Yet these people can claim NHS treatment despite having no payment records.

What is going on ? Have I been lied to?

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Thurrockbob says...
6:36pm Thu 8 Nov 12

Virtually everyone told the pillocks in charge not to shut Orsett Hospital but no-one listed. I could never understand closing a local hospital when a complete community like Chafford Hundred was being built, add the fact that the whole riverside is now covered with new properties and what do you get? You got it a totally overworked, understaffed and out of date Hospital to cope with all the extra workload. There was supposed to be a new Hospital being built in Hogg Lane, well all I can say is: BUILD IT NOW YOU IDIOTS!

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Marcus P says...
10:58am Fri 9 Nov 12

I see our conservative MP is justifying benefits caps in this weeks Gazette. For once I agree with her.

Any chance of her advocating that all non UK citizens living and working in the UK, take out private health insurance until they have paid in to UK plc tax coffers for at least five years?

This is a common sense vote winner

Like many have said on here, the NHS is breaking under the strain of playing world health service.

I wonder if this situation has been deliberately contrived so the whole of the NHS can be privatised on the justification of affordability?

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aerobic1 says...
12:42pm Fri 9 Nov 12

Why do we pay taxes and NI if these services are not readily available for us to use, in an emergency. I am surprised people do not produce petitions, write letters and emails, until something is done. We recently travelled to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford area - extremely good service and very quiet for a Saturday night. We should have this good service at Basildon.

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aerobic1 says...
11:16am Mon 12 Nov 12

What about the hospital that was due to be built on Hogg Lane. Perhaps now this could ahead.

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d_2da_ougle says...
12:12pm Mon 12 Nov 12

People are missing the point the hogg lane if built are just like brentwood community hospitial they carry out day release patients only people would still be sent to a and e services at basildon before others get shipped out to the community hospitials hence their just offloading the work from a and e u cannot walk into brentwood hospitial I bet the lace don't have a mri scanner ect the wards are purely recovary wards not a proper a and e

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