‘Crisis’ in Hull hospitals as council leader calls on Health Secretary to ‘urgently’ visit

Coun Mike Ross told LDRS the growth of waiting times in A&E showed how serious the situation is in local hospitals.

He added waits of 12 hours or more and the pressure staff were under could not go on after visiting Hull Royal Infirmary’s A&E department himself in this week.

It comes after coun Ross wrote to Health Secretary Therese Coffey inviting her to visit Hull to see how bad the situation had become in local hospitals.

The letter also called on Ms Coffey to send more money to the local NHS to stop services being stretched beyond breaking point.

The council leader’s letter follows a call for patients to avoid A&E unless absolutely necessary from the NHS trust which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust (HUTH) said patients should instead call 111, go to their nearest Urgent Treatment Centre or see their GP for a routine medical issue.

The trust said: “Our hospitals are facing unprecedented levels of demand right now.

“Extremely long waits are being experienced by patients at A&E due to our need to prioritise the most seriously ill.”

Visitors to A&E have said they have waited as long as 13 hours for treatment, with reports of others being treated in ambulances.

coun Ross said the Trust’s warning underscored how serious the situation is.

The council leader said: “I visited A & E and I was given a tour around, I saw for myself how serious the situation is.

“What I saw was so many people there, having to wait for so long.

“And I got the sense from speaking to medics that they just want to do the best for the patients there but it was so difficult to do so with the way things are.

“That cannot be allowed to go on, it’s not good for patients and their families having to wait for so long for treatment and it’s also not good for staff who are facing tremendous pressure.

“There’s all sorts of factors that have caused this, increasing demand’s a part of it especially as we get into the flu season but there’s many other things behind it as well.

“We’ve not heard from the Department of Health yet but we’ve only just sent the letter.

“We don’t know what kind of response we’ll get, but this is a genuine invite for the health secretary to come to Hull and see for herself what the situation is like.

“We saw during coronavirus that there was the ability to step up and take quick action, there needs to be the same level of urgency here.

“In the long term, some of the solution’s going to be around supporting the wider health system as well as making sure people are healthy enough to not need it in the first place.

“But we know the cost of living’s also a concern for staff in healthcare, it’s affecting some whose salaries would previously have been considered management-level.

“So ultimately it’s the government that has the power to find the solution.”