AN elderly Droitwich woman's "appalling" experiences at Worcestershire Royal Hospital have encouraged her councillor son to call for the full reopening of Kidderminster A&E.

Wychavon District Council member Andrew Christian-Brookes has been to Worcestershire Royal with his frail 86-year-old mother twice in the past three months.

And he claims her experiences show how the establishment is struggling to cope.

"Just last week, she was rushed to hospital, where she had to wait hours for a bed and was eventually put in an overflow ward," he said.

"Back in October, she fell and broke her hip. An operation to repair the damage was cancelled at the last minute on three consecutive days.

"She was starved for a total of 72 hours because each time they expected her to go into theatre. It is appalling.

"Taking patients from Wyre Forest is obviously having a major impact on Worcestershire Royal - it just cannot cope with the demand and I believe the situation is reaching bursting point."

A £19m treatment centre is to open in the county in a bid to slash waiting times for patients across Worcestershire awaiting minor operations.

As reported in yesterday's Evening News, the new centre will be launched at a recently renovated block at Kidderminster Hospital.

But campaign group Health Concern, like Coun Christian-Brookes, does not think this will be enough.

Health Concern is led by Dr Richard Taylor, whose commitment to the NHS the National Health Service propelled him into the Commons as Westminster's only independent MP.

He welcomed Mr Christian-Brookes' comments and called for other people to highlight the problems too.

"We are still trying to convince the Acute NHS Trust, and our own Primary Care Trust that we need an emergency unit in Kidderminster," said Dr Taylor.

"It would take the load off Worcestershire Royal Hospital and would be beneficial to both staff and patients."

Mr Christian-Brookes added: "There were such high expectations when the new hospital opened, but now patients and staff are demoralised. There are not enough people working there and not nearly enough beds.

"I think the only solution is to reopen Kidderminster emergency department again, immediately.

"This is about the welfare of the people of Worcestershire and something has to be done."

Worcestershire Royal Hospital said it could not comment on individual cases or if the hospital was struggling to cope with demand.

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