Stafford's County Hospital 'unlikely to see return of 24-hour A&E'

Tracy Bullock, who has taken over as chief executive of the trust which runs the hospital, said she did not believe there was enough demand to justify a 24-hour A&E.

However, she said the situation would be reviewed and she was planning to hold talks with bosses at neighbouring hospitals.

• Express & Star comment: No surprise over boss's view on Stafford's A&E

Stafford's A&E has been open from 8am to 10pm since the Mid Staffs NHS Trust was dissolved in the wake of the high-profile deaths scandal.

There have been calls for a round-the-clock A&E service to be re-instated from campaigners. Ms Bullock said she did not believe the lack of an overnight A&E in Stafford placed "significant" pressure on hospitals in Wolverhampton and Stoke.

She said: "It will be reviewed without a doubt. We just need to see what the demand is. We are not seeing we have the demand at this moment in time for an A&E 24/7.

"I will be meeting with chief executives of all the neighbouring hospitals to understand how we can work together.

"If I make any decision around County Hospital I wouldn't do that without considering the impact on neighbouring hospitals.

"I do know the demand overnight is very low. I don't think the impact is significant but I am arranging conversations with neighbouring hospitals."

It was revealed last year that bosses at the University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust was drawing up a strategy for the future of County Hospital as it was not sustainable in its current form, including switching more than 2,000 operations from the Royal Stoke Hospital, run by the same trust.

Ms Bullock, who has joined from the Mid-Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "I have been down there having a look around and it is an absolutely remarkable infrastructure. It's about making sure we maximise that facility and do as much there as we possibly can.

"As a small hospital we can't just put everything there. We need to make sure we have enough patients there otherwise services aren't sustainable."

She added: "I would like to assure the population of Staffordshire that hospital site is here to stay. From my point of view it is the gateway to providing services for a much wider population.

"What we are not sure of yet is if it will be doing exactly the same as it is now. It will still have wards without a doubt. What we don't want is services that aren't sustainable."