Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

A&E Waiting Times: East Lancashire

Tuesday 23 April 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department has seen a 4.5 percentage point improvement in A&E four-hour wait targets at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust since last year.
  • The Minister has accepted an invitation to visit Burnley General Teaching Hospital to discuss local A&E performance.
  • The Minister acknowledged that hospital discharge efficiency impacts A&E performance and has invested in supporting hospitals to discharge patients.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Antony Higginbotham
NHS
Context

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust faces A&E waiting time issues. The MP seeks information on actions taken by the Department to address these problems.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to improve accident and emergency waiting times in east Lancashire?

Answer from Helen Whately

Just over a year ago, we set out a plan to improve urgent and emergency care. At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, 78% of A&E patients in March were seen within four hours. That is 4.5 percentage points better than last year—the biggest year-on-year improvement outside the pandemic since 2010. We are working with the NHS on year 2 of the urgent and emergency care recovery plan.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps to improve A&E waiting times in east Lancashire were not detailed, only overall performance figures were provided.

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Q2 Antony Higginbotham
NHS
Context

The MP seeks a meeting and an official visit from the minister to discuss A&E issues in east Lancashire.

Question

Could I ask her to go one step further? Perhaps she and even the Secretary of State could visit Burnley General Teaching Hospital in my constituency, meet the trust, and see what more we can do there, partly to reverse the disastrous decision of the last Labour Government to close the A&E there?

Answer from Helen Whately

I commend my hon. Friend and other east Lancashire colleagues for their campaigning on this matter. I look forward to the meeting we are going to have to discuss the performance of his local A&E, and I thank him very much for the invitation to visit.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps regarding site visit or reversal of Labour's decision were not addressed in detail.

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Q3 Tim Farron Lib Dem Westmorland and Lonsdale
NHS Social Care
Context

A social care crisis is causing congestion in hospitals, with a significant number of beds occupied by patients who are fit to leave but have no care package.

Question

Does the Minister agree that one reason why there are such problems with A&E waiting times is the congestion in our hospitals overall, because of the number of people who are healthy and fit to leave hospital, but cannot have a health and care plan when they return home? Some 24% of all beds in the Morecambe Bay hospitals are occupied by people who are fit to leave, but have no care package. What plan does the Minister have to address the social care crisis in Cumbria? That will include increasing the amount of affordable housing, so that people can afford to live in the area; paying carers more; and having more intelligent visa rules.

Answer from Helen Whately

The hon. Gentleman makes the point that the performance of A&E depends on the flow of patients through hospital and our ability to discharge them. That is why, as part of our work on urgent and emergency care, we have invested in supporting hospitals to discharge patients, and have been supporting social care. We continue to work on this, with up to £8.6 billion extra funding over two years.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific plans addressing the housing, carer pay, and visa rules were not detailed.

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