Expert GPs may solve A&E staffing dilemma

Chiefs at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust were told yesterday that the alternative was being examined so the casualty unit at Pontefract Hospital could be re-opened during the night.

It has been closed since November between 10pm and 8am because of a shortage of doctors.

Medical director Professor Tim Hendra said staff had visited Hexham Hospital in Northumberland where coverage was provided by a pool of highly-skilled nurses and a small team of GPs with skills in emergency medicine although in a report he warned this had taken several years to evolve and had “resource implications”.

A second visit to Burnley Hospital in Lancashire is planned for the end of the month.

In a statement, the trust said: “The trust will then develop a possible time frame for the re-opening of the emergency department at night, with sufficient staff with the required skills and experience to provide a safe service for local residents.”

The trust’s board was told there had been no adverse clinical incidents since the overnight closure and there had been no knock-on impact on the running of the neighbouring casualty unit at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. Opponents of the closure have pointed to long waits for A&E patients at Wakefield which was struggling to meet waiting time targets.

In a separate move, trust bosses yesterday agreed to a six-month delay before plans for a major clinical reconfiguration of services at their hospitals in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury are drawn up.

A public consultation on the plans is not likely to take place until December.

It means planned cash savings for the trust, which is facing a deficit of nearly £20m in 2011-12, will not be achieved for at least another 12 months.