Coventry hospital's 'failing' service leaves patients waiting months for treatment

[dutchman]

One patient has been waiting for more than 100 days



A Coventry hospital has been slammed for a 'failing' service that has left patients waiting months for treatment. In fact, one patient has been left needing treatment for more than 100 days from the Ears Nose and Throat (ENT) department at University Hospital Coventry.

Their frustrating and painful stories of delay persuaded Nuneaton 's George Eliot Hospital to pull the plug on the ENT service provided by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW).

The Eliot said that 'failings' in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between it and the Walsgrave-based hospital led them to terminate the contract. Robin Snead, chief operating officer at GEH, explained the situation to board members and how it forced them to make a decision.

"For us, as an organisation, it requires us to review our position as part of the ongoing SLA with UHCW," he explained. "We took a proposal to serve notice on the agreement with UHCW and bring an option paper for the future of the service moving forward.

"Maintaining patient safety in that service is of utmost priority for us and in order to do that, we have literally been micro-managing each patient through that pathway to ensure they get their care in a timely manner."

During the board meeting, GEH Chairman Russell Hardy asked: "This is a failure of the process in UHCW that has let these patients down, isnt it?" to which Mr Snead replied: "Indeed it is."