Handover delays at Nottingham hospitals cost ambulances 3,500 hours last month

That’s the equivalent of almost 300 12-hour paramedic shifts.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) accounted for 25 per cent of all the time East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) ambulances lost at hospitals in March, despite receiving only 12.5 per cent of patients.

Across the region, EMAS staff spent a total of 13,801 hours waiting for patients to be transferred into hospitals.

NUH runs Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Centre, and says it is working hard to make improvements.

An EMAS board meeting on April 2 described March as ‘another difficult month’ for hospitals, which are struggling with a lack of available beds.

Ben Holdaway, director of operations, said: “On average, we lost 445 hours per day to handover delays in March.

“The total for March was 13,801 hours – equivalent to over 1000, 12-hour shifts.

"This was 193 more hours than last month.

“We saw 25 per cent of the delays at NUH, and another 21 per cent at Leicester Royal Infirmary, meaning these two hospitals account for nearly half of delays.

He added that there had been ‘marginal improvements’ in the trust’s delays since February, but there were still deep problems.

Many hospitals are struggling with ‘patient flow’ with patients ready to be discharged, but there aren’t social care arrangements in place for them after they leave hospital.

This means they occupy beds which are needed for incoming patients.

Figures revealed at the meeting show EMAS missed its target for arrival at category two calls – emergency calls, which include stroke victims – every day in March.

The target is just under 25 minutes but the EMAS monthly average was 43 minutes and 13 seconds.

Dr Keith Girling, outgoing medical director at NUH said: “We apologise to those patients who have experienced long waits.

"Whilst we have seen improvements in recent weeks, we still have more to do.

“We are working closely with EMAS and other system partners to improve flow through the hospital and transfer patients into the care of our emergency department as quickly as possible.

“We continue to ask the public to help by using NHS services wisely.

"If it is not a life-threatening emergency, please use alternative services where possible.”