Health Minister Claire Christian has described “extremely challenging conditions” in the emergency department, including a patient waiting more than a day to be admitted.
During a recent visit to Noble’s Hospital, the minister observed “one patient who had been waiting for over 24 hours to be admitted from the emergency department onto a ward”.
She told the House of Keys that this “clearly illustrates the pressures the delays in inpatient flow place on both patients and staff”.
Ms Christian also witnessed “instances of patients having to stand due to a lack of seating, which is clearly not acceptable and has a direct impact on patient experience”.
Commitment
Despite these issues, the minister said she saw “first hand the commitment, the professionalism and clinical excellence of staff working under extremely challenging conditions”.
She added that the emergency department team are “working exceptionally well with ward colleagues to secure admissions as quickly as possible”.
Patients were being triaged on average within 21 minutes of arrival, and the minister said she was “reassured that the care was safe”.
However, she noted that “the most frustrating aspect for both patients and staff was the time in moving patients from the clinical decision area on to a ward”.
Ms Christian thanked charities that have “recently helped fund new chairs for the emergency department”.