One third of A&E patients wait more than four hours at Russells Hall
A third of patients waited more than four hours to be treated at Russells Hall Hospital during March as the hospital's A&E performance continues to slide.
Just 66.5 per cent of patients were seen within the national four-hour target time, way below the expected 95 per cent.
Performance has failed to show signs of improvement despite the end of the busy winter period. Waits at Russells Hall are among the longest in the West Midlands.
A new report showed that out of 9,593 people who attended the A&E department in March, 3,209 waited more than four hours.
Health bosses say people have been coming to A&E who could be dealt with elsewhere and have urged patients only to attend if they require hospital treatment.
It has been a similar situation at neighbouring Sandwell Hospital, which chief executive Toby Lewis said had been "astonishingly busy".
Government guidelines state 95 per cent of patients should be seen, treated, admitted or discharged within four hours.
Diane Wake, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Trust, which runs Russells Hall, said recently: "We ask people to consider other health professionals such as their local pharmacist or doctors’ surgery.
"If you’re not sure which the best service is for you, call NHS 111 for advice."
Meanwhile, Russells Hall chiefs have vowed to make improvements after an independent investigation cleared senior staff of bullying but concluded leaders needed to do more to make workers feel they could raise concerns.
The full report has now been published after the main findings of the investigation were revealed last month.
Ms Wake said: "We fully accept the conclusions and recommendations and have an improvement plan in place. We have asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to support us with further strengthening our freedom to speak up arrangements for staff to raise concerns.
"We are also offering all staff the opportunity to work with us by sharing their views on the improvements we need to make."
It also comes as Dame Yve Buckland has been appointed as the new interim chair of the trust, replacing Jenni Ord following criticism of the leadership by Dudley MPs.
