Gloucestershire Hospitals to improve waiting times in A&E
Monitor has opened an investigation at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust because of concerns patients are waiting too long in A&E.
The investigation will also look at what additional support Monitor can offer the trust as it seeks to routinely see patients in Accident and Emergency within four hours.
Last year, following an earlier investigation into the trust’s A&E, Gloucestershire Hospitals - which provides acute and specialist care in Gloucester and Cheltenham - agreed to make a number of improvements.
These included developing and implementing a plan to cut waiting times in its A&E, appointing an Improvement Director to provide additional support and scrutiny on the trust’s progress, and to work with Monitor’s team of experts.
However, the trust has not made enough progress on these actions and, as a result, has been unable to meet the 4 hour waiting time target in its A&E.
Claudia Griffith, Regional Director at Monitor, said:
It’s disappointing that Gloucestershire Hospitals hasn’t made greater progress with planned improvements and patients are too often waiting too long to be seen in A&E.
We understand that the trust may need extra support, including from its local health and social care partners, to cut its A&E waiting times, which is why we now need to look more closely at what can be done to improve A&E performance.
No decision has yet been taken on whether regulatory action is needed. Monitor will announce the outcome of its investigation once it has been completed.