Sandwell NHS boss pledge after admitting A&E wait 'too long'

Toby Lewis, chief executive of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell and Birmingham City Hospitals, said "we are not meeting the standards we set for ourselves".

However, Mr Lewis said he believed the trust was "taking all of the right steps and working with the right spirit".

Four-hour performance dropped again to just 70.9 per cent in November, meaning three in 10 patients were kept waiting more than four hours.

The national target is 95 per cent, although almost all trusts are failing to meet it.

More than 5,000 people waited over four hours to be treated, while a mental health patient waited on a trolley for 12 hours.

The Sandwell trust has struggled to free up beds over recent weeks, with occupancy rates being around 100 per cent, impact on its ability to treat patients quickly.

While other health bosses have criticised the four-hour target, Mr Lewis has insisted the trust must do everything it can to try and meet it.

He said in a new report to board members: "Waiting times for emergency care continue to be too long.

"Regardless of the relative position of the trust against nationwide and region wide pressures, we are not meeting the standards we set for ourselves and want by way of care.

"We have worked closely with ECIST and NHS Improvement to achieve improvement and their review suggests we are taking all of the right steps and working with the right spirit.

"It remains the case that we are rapid in undertaking ambulance assessments and returning vehicles to the road for the next patient.

"Most days of the prior month we have also had major bed deficits."

In October, Mr Lewis described conditions in the A&E department as the worst he had seen in his 25-year career.

He has said providing more care for elderly in their homes and discharging people from hospital at the right times is key to solving the national NHS crisis.