Coventry NHS trust facing "high demand" as A&E wait far behind targets

University Hospital's emergency department has around 6,000 visitors a month



A Coventry A&E was behind national waiting time targets this autumn. Two thirds of patients at University Hospital's adult emergency department waited more than four hours to be seen in September and October this year.

But the department also had double the number of patients compared to other local emergency and urgent care services. A new system introduced at an NHS trust has also had a knock-on effect on overall waiting times.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) apologised for the waits and also had a message for patients, as pressure on services is set to ramp up. The trust runs eight A&E services across Coventry and Rugby, which include urgent care centres as well as hospital emergency departments.

National targets are for 76% of patients at A&Es to have a decision made on their care within four hours, rising to 78% by next March. UHCW's performance was revealed in a report by a senior trust officer for a council meeting yesterday, 11 December

It showed an average of 70% of patients across all of he trust's emergency and urgent care services were seen in four hours since April 2022. In September and October, the rate was 66% and 68% - meaning around a third of people attending were waiting longer than they should.

But delays were not not spread evenly. Most people going to urgent treatment centres and specialist units were seen in four hours, while eye casualty and the children's A&E struggled to meet the target over these autumn months.

University Hospital's adult's emergency department was furthest behind target, averaging 30%. However, it also had some 6,000 visitors per month in this time, while the next most-used services had around 3,000 after a drop in people visiting the city's main urgent treatment centre.

The report revealed there have also been other changes. Waiting times across UHCW's emergency treatment services improved last year and in March the trust met the 76% target.

But its performance dropped significantly in June, which the report said was due to the introduction of a new electronic patient record. The paper admitted some ongoing struggles with trust waiting times are related to "data quality issues" after the system was brought in.

It said pressure on services is likely to rise over the winter but UHCW has a plan for this. The report admitted that for some patients waiting times in the emergency department are "significant" and "not the experience that we would hope to offer."

But it said those waiting the longest are often people with less severe cases, and nurses supervise the waiting room to make they note if any patients' conditions get worse. The report also noted that people in poverty often rely on emergency departments for care and those in vulnerable groups tend to have higher rates of visits.

First snow of the winter, the whole system will collapse.

People are already being treated in the back of ambulances to avoid waiting rooms.