Stafford A&E unit won't accept walk-in patients overnight

Stafford Hospital's A&E department will no longer accept walk-in patients overnight, even when it reopens round-the-clock, health bosses have announced.

A 24-hour service is expected to be restored on a pilot basis in December, after leading GPs decided it would be unsafe to allow A&E to reopen between 10pm and 8am from next month.

By the time the pilot is due to start, the unit will have been closed overnight for a year. It was shut amid concerns over patient safety due to staffing shortages.

GPs and healthcare managers told a press conference they were worried moving senior doctors onto night shifts would leave a shortage of experienced personnel during the day. They said the move threatened to reverse improvements the hospital has made in the last 10 months.

And GPs confirmed that under plans they are drawing up, walk-in patients will be turned away during the overnight window.

They will be accepted only if referred to Stafford by the GP out-of-hours service or taken there by ambulance.

Yesterday's announcement that the October deadline for 24-hour opening would not be met was today criticised by campaigners and politicians.

Stafford trust board members said earlier this month they believed they were ready to resume round-the-clock emergency care. However, their claims – based on a series of performance targets being met during daytime hours – were rejected by top GPs and healthcare managers.

Dr Ken Deacon, medical director of the Staffordshire Cluster of PCTs, said the decision had been heavily influenced by senior doctors at Stafford.

Around 15 ambulances a night will continue to be diverted to Walsall's Manor and Wolverhampton's New Cross hospitals, as well as other sites in Stoke-on-Trent and Burton, until the pilot scheme is approved.

Independent health watchdog Staffordshire Link said it was satisfied with the decision, after sitting in on Tuesday night's meeting over A&E.