THE amount of people going to A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in October was up by 11.5 per cent in comparison to last year.

Figures revealed by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – the organisation running the Royal as well as Kidderminster Hospital and Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital – showed the amount of people admitted to A&E across the county was up 8.2 per cent overall, while those being taken to hospital by ambulance increased by 14 per cent.

Although a drop in urgent referrals by GPs meant the overall emergency admissions to the trust were up one per cent in comparison with last year, the increase in patients meant the organisation did not achieve its target of dealing with at least 95 per cent of A&E patients within four hours in October, with 6.9 per cent waiting longer than this.

Speaking at a meeting of the trust’s board on Wednesday, November 26, chief operating officer Stewart Messer said the increased demand had been seen since the launch of the NHS 111 service last November.

“This is becoming a well-worn track now,” he said.

“Metaphorically speaking we are the jam that is being squeezed in this sandwich.”

NHS 111 is run by West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and replaced the beleaguered NHS Direct service.

The organisation’s chief executive Penny Venables said the trust was working with WMAS to determine whether advice given to patients could be improved.

“Our experiences in Worcester are very similar to those across the county,” she said.

“We are seeing an increasing number of patients who don’t need acute care but do need some form of help.”

Board member Professor Julien Bion said he believed the information available to people working on the NHS 111 line could be improved.

“The pathways have been developed with a lot of clinical input but what they haven’t had is scientific input,” he said.

“I think that needs to happen.

“We’ve got to work with WMAS to give them the confidence to take patients to Minor Injury Units (MIUs) because they seem reluctant to do so and we need to understand what that is.”

Deputy chief executive Chris Tidman said, despite a county-wide campaign encouraging patients only to go to A&E in a genuine emergency, people were still visiting the acute hospitals with less serious complaints.

“There is a behavioural factor for people going where they know they can get instant access,” he said. “People will go where the lights are on.

“It’s not ideal and it’s not the best way resources should be used.”

There are five MIUs in Worcestershire in Kidderminster and Tenbury – which are open 24 hours a day – as well as Malvern, Evesham and Bromsgrove.

The units can deal with a range of injuries such as broken bones, cuts and wounds and waiting times are often much shorter than an A&E.

Waiting times at the MIUs are available at www.worcsacute.nhs.uk.