Ambulance transfer times at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich Hospital revealed

Ambulance handover times peaked at West Suffolk Hospital last month with some patients waiting more than two hours to be transferred to accident and emergency.

NHS data revealed that on December 29, a total of 35 patients waited more than an hour to be transferred, at the hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

Nationally, the target is that all handovers between ambulance and A&E must take place within 15 minutes, with no patients waiting more than 30 minutes.

On December 29, the average wait time at West Suffolk Hospital, was two hours and 22 minutes.

During the following week, wait times gradually decreased and on Sunday, the average handover time was 27 minutes and 56 seconds.

Nicola Cottington, chief operating officer for the West Suffolk Foundation Trust, said: “Like our other local NHS trusts, we are currently very busy and facing significant challenges with high demand for our services.”

She added: “I am sorry to all our patients that experience long waits and every effort is being made to minimise these as much as possible.

“Ahead of these seasonal pressures, we have continued to develop our urgent and emergency care services to help prevent avoidable admissions and reduce waiting times in our emergency department and during ambulance handovers.”

Patients at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Ipswich Hospital, have also experienced delays being transferred from ambulances.

On December 29, the average wait for a handover was one hour and 23 minutes and on Sunday, was one hour and 20 minutes.

Mike Meers, director of operations for Ipswich Hospital, said getting ambulances back on the road as soon as possible was a priority.

Mr Meers said: “We are working closely with colleagues at the ambulance service.

“We’ve seen significant improvements since introducing a new handover system with them at Ipswich Hospital in November”.

“The number of very unwell patients coming into hospital can mean that at busy times it takes longer for ambulance crews to handover a patient’s care to hospital staff.

“But patient safety is always most important and patients waiting with ambulance crews are regularly assessed.”

Mr Meers said there has been a 28 per cent improvement in the number of patients waiting more than 60 minutes for an ambulance handover, compared to this time last year.

Data for ESNEFT relate to both Ipswich and Colchester Hospital.

On New Year’s Eve the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) moved to its highest escalation alert level, in response to high demand across the region.

It has urged the public to think carefully about using 999 while the health system is experiencing a huge spike in demand.

The latest NHS figures showed the current number of patients in hospital with flu.

At West Suffolk Hospital on New Year’s Day there were a total of 36 patients with flu - two of these were in critical care.

On Sunday there were 33 patients with flu, one was in critical care.

Figures from ESNEFT showed its hospitals in Ipswich and Colchester had a total of 96 patients with flu, this included seven in critical care.

Nick Hulme, chief executive of ESNEFT, said: "Our staff are working incredibly hard, as ever, to make sure our patients are safe.

“It has, however, been a particularly challenging start to the new year.

"Before you come to A&E, please call NHS 111, or use 111 online, for advice on the best way to access healthcare services.

"Please only use 999 or attend A&E in life-threatening emergencies. This will help our staff in A&E to look after the sickest patients who really need our care.”

Earlier this week a SuffolkNews article revealed flu figures in Suffolk hospitals have multiplied by almost 10 times year-on-year.

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