Probe hospital to reduce A&E cover

Stafford Hospital is to close its accident and emergency department overnight amid staff shortages
12 April 2012

An NHS hospital at the centre of a public inquiry is to close its accident and emergency department (ED) overnight because of staff shortages.

Stafford Hospital has been the subject of an 11-month probe after reports of appalling levels of care and high death rates between 2005 and 2008.

In a statement released on Thursday, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the scandal-hit hospital, said the emergency department would be closed between 10pm and 8am, seven days a week.

The overnight closure, described by the trust as a temporary measure, will begin on December 1 this year.

Chief executive Lyn Hill Tout said there were not enough doctors and consultants to keep the department open 24 hours a day, admitting that the problem was "partly due to the reputation of the trust".

She said: "This has been a very difficult recommendation to make to our trust board. Our emergency department is safe. However, because of the number of doctor vacancies we need to close it temporarily at night, which will allow resources to be focussed on daytime activity, thus increasing quality of care, and this will also allow a period for intense staff development. Our overriding concern is to keep patients safe.

A trust spokeswoman said the move would affect ambulance-transported patients and patients who self-refer to the accident and emergency department, but added that patients referred by their GPs would continue to be treated at the hospital "24 hours a day, seven days a week".

Graham Urwin, chief executive of Staffordshire Cluster of PCTs, said: "The hospital has worked tirelessly to find a different solution to this issue. However ultimately the inability to recruit the right numbers and types of medical staff, and the need to put patients first, means that this action needs to be taken."

The leader of Stafford Borough Council, Mike Heenan, said: "We are close to a major motorway, we have growth planned for our area - including the expansion of MoD Stafford and our town centre - and we are the county town and administrative headquarters of our key public services. We must have a full-time A&E.

"They have announced this to be a temporary closure but I and my colleagues will want assurances from the minister that it will be only temporary and a 24/7 A&E service will be restored as soon as possible. Whatever decision is taken it must be in the best interests of the people of Stafford Borough and the many thousands more from the surrounding areas it serves."

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