University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust was created on 1 November 2014. It runs Royal Stoke University Hospital, formerly run by the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and the County Hospital (formerly Stafford Hospital). It was formed after the dissolution of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The trust is currently under the leadership of chair David Wakefield and chief executive Tracy Bullock.

Current operations

The trust operates on three sites in Stoke and one in Stafford. Most departments in Stoke are on the Royal Stoke University Hospital site with some residual functions on the old Royal Infirmary site. A separate central outpatients department is in Hartshill between the two hospital sites.

One of the Trust's first decisions was that 60 beds were to be reopened at the County Hospital. Ten consultants and an extra 200 nurses have been recruited. Paediatrics, consultant-led maternity and acute surgery will move from Stafford to Stoke. £150m will be spent at Stafford, doubling the size of the casualty department, expanding outpatient facilities, refurbishing wards and opening a new theatre. Stafford will get a new MRI scanner and possibly a new eye surgery unit.[1]

The board is one of the first organisations in the UK to make wifi available in its hospitals, on the basis that enables patients to stay in touch with their family and friends, and improves the way it interacts with patients.[2]

The trust declared a 'major incident' in January 2015 when its A&E was overwhelmed following an outbreak of pneumonia. Pictures of large numbers of patients on trolleys in the hospitals' corridors were published. There were 613 patients who waited at least 12 hours on trolleys in the hospital in January and February. In January 2015 bed occupancy for general and acute wards was at 100%. In February it was 97%, March 99%, April 97%, May 92%. The trust, which had 1,500 beds, planned to open 56 more beds on the Stoke site.[3]

The trust had 4,000-plus compliments (many from A&E patients) in 2015 and 800 formal complaints.[4]

The GP streaming service in the A&E department was run by Vocare, but after a Care Quality Commission inspection in 2018 the trust took it over, at least temporarily.[5]

Performance
Four-hour target in the emergency department quarterly figures from NHS England Data from https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

The trust expects to finish 2015-16 with a deficit of more than £20 million as a result of changes to the NHS tariff.[6]

The A&E department at Royal Stoke University Hospital in December 2017 was described as suffering Third World conditions due to overcrowding. The corridors were said to be so crowded with trolleys it was hard to walk down them and a shortage of cubicles meant patients were seen in disabled toilets.[7] Only 77.5% of A&E patients were seen within four hours during 2017-18.[8]

The Care Quality Commission imposed conditions on the trust in July 2019 “in relation to observations within the emergency department regarding appropriate and timely clinical assessment on arrival, and actions taken to ensure that patients detained under the Mental Health Act would have their rights protected”.[9]

Development

The trust was one of the beneficiaries of Boris Johnson's announcement of capital funding for the NHS in August 2019, with an allocation of £17.6 million for three new wards delivering 84 beds.[10]

See also

References
  1. "60 beds to be reopened at Stafford's County Hospital". Express and Star. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  2. "Hospital wifi keeps patients in touch with their care". Health Service Journal. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  3. "More hospital beds to tackle Staffordshire shortage". Express and Star. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  4. "Why we may soon regard today's stressed NHS as its last golden age". Sentinel. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  5. "Trust takes over A&E streaming from private provider after CQC concerns". Health Service JOurnal. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. "Rollover tariff trusts expect massive deficits". Health Service Journal. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  7. Meek, James (5 April 2018). "NHS SOS" (Vol. 40 No. 7). London Review of Books. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  8. The 10 worst A&Es for waits revealed BBC
  9. "CQC imposes conditions on major trauma centre". Health Service Journal. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. "Revealed: The 20 capital projects promised by the PM". Health Service Journal. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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