A&E patients left waiting in ambulances outside New Cross Hospital for over 30 MINUTES

Ninety-nine people were forced to wait between 30 minutes and an hour outside the hospital in November – with nine waiting for more than 60 minutes.

NHS bosses have fined the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust £28,800 for the failings.

The hospital trust’s A&E performance in November was its worst since January 2017 – nearly five per cent down on November 2016.

A Trust spokesman said it has seen a rise in the number of ambulances attending the A&E department and ‘those requiring urgent clinical attention are always given priority’.

Board papers also reveal one child waited more than 12 hours to be admitted to A&E in the same month.

The report says: “The fine for ambulances during November was £28,800,00. This is based on 99 patients between 30-60 minutes at £200 per patient and nine patients over 60 minutes at £1,000 per patient.

“There was one patient who breached the 12-hour decision to admit target during November, this was a child waiting for a [psychiatric intensive care] bed.”

A Trust spokesman said: “We strive to provide the best, high quality, safe care we can for every one of our patients and our hard working staff go above and beyond to ensure that patient safety is the highest priority.

“Like many organisations across the country the Trust has seen an increase in ambulance conveyances to the Emergency Department and those requiring urgent clinical attention are always given priority to ensure they receive the care and treatment they need as soon as possible.

“We have a good working relationship with the West Midlands Ambulance Service and will continue to work together to make sure patients are assessed, treated and handed over as quickly and efficiently as possible.”