Patient numbers using accident and emergency services in Salford are soaring, according to recent statistics.
Nearly 87,000 patients were seen at Salford Royal hospital’s accident and emergency wards in the last year – 11,000 more than five years ago.
The figure for visits to A&E wards at Salford Royal hospital between 2012 and 2013 works out at an average of 237 patients a day.
The figure has climbed year on year since 2007, when is stood at just 75,572.
The statistics come not long after Prime Minister David Cameron faced criticism for ‘dismantling the NHS’ by oppositions MPs.
A Salford Royal spokesman said there was no definitive reason to explain an increase in A&E attendance at Salford Royal and that the hospital deflects on average around 650 patients a month.
The spokesman said: “However, there have been a number of service developments over the years, which may have contributed.
“For example our designation as a regional stroke centre four years ago and becoming one of three Major Trauma Centres in Greater Manchester in 2012.
“A&E is for emergency or serious or life threatening situations and we work really hard to make sure A&E is kept free for those patients who really need it.
“Staff have been trained to redirect patients to the service that best meets their requirements, for example, another health service like a GP, pharmacist or dentist.
“Despite being extremely busy, our A&E department consistently meets the four hour waiting target year on year. Our A&E department is the second best in the NHS as reported by the NHS Patient Satisfaction Survey in 2012.”
Commons data found that the number of patients attending A&E has increased by an average of 211,256 every year since 2010.
Revelations in the Daily Mirror suggest Cameron’s scrapping of the NHS Direct helpline and closure of 53 NHS walk-in clinics is putting added strain on A&E wards.
Measures put in place by NHS bosses to ease the strain on A&E wards have also suffered a backlash, with callers of the new NHS 111 Helpline unable to get through and ending up in A&E anyway.
While the two-tier system of A&E proposals commissioned in a report by NHS England, has also led to fears that hospital services could be axed.
The full statistics are: 2007/2008 there were 75,572 admissions, in 2008/2009 there were 77,570, in 2009/2010 the figure reached 83,892, in 2010/2011 there were 85,846 admissions and in 2011/2012 there 85,555 admissions.
Picture courtesy of The Prime Minister’s Office, with thanks.
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