More than 1,700 hours lost due to handover delays in region's hospitals
More than 1,700 additional hours were spent in ambulances due to handover delays at hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire last week, figures show.
Data from NHS England showed 780 patients waited in an ambulance for at least one hour when they arrived at A&E in the week up to December 11.
A further 639 people were forced to wait between 30 minutes and an hour – with 1,700 or so hours being lost at the region's hospitals as a result.
Nationally, one in six patients were forced to wait more than an hour while one in three were left waiting more than 30 minutes – both being record highs.
In Wolverhampton, 148 patients waiting for at least one hour with a further 127 patients waiting between 30 minutes and an hour, with at least 226 hours lost.
In Staffordshire, it was 304 and 121, with at least 857 hours lost. In Sandwell, it was 147 and 154, with at least 269 hours lost. In Dudley, it was 159 and 152 and at least 310 hours lost, while in Walsall it was 22 and 85, with at least 38 hours lost.
NHS targets state trusts should complete 95 per cent of all ambulance handovers in 30 minutes, with all conducted in less than one hour. Around 25,000 handover delays of half an hour or longer were recorded across all hospital trusts last week, according to NHS England.
It meant a record 34 per cent of all arrivals by ambulance were postponed by more than 30 minutes – up from 31 per cent the previous week. Meanwhile, 12,500 patients (17 per cent) had to wait more than an hour to be handed over, also a record.
A handover delay does not always mean a patient has waited in the ambulance as they could have been moved into an A&E department but the handover was not completed.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive at NHS Providers, said: "Ambulance handover delays have also increased, with over a third being delayed by 30 minutes or more.
"Trust leaders are concerned that unfolding strike action and the extremely cold weather will add even more pressure to overstretched services.
"The Chancellor's commitment to publishing a long-term workforce plan in 2023 is welcome, but this must be backed by appropriate funding for implementation."
