Check out hospital waiting times
by Angela Cole
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk
Patients can find out how long they will have to wait in A&E
– before leaving home.
Live information on the average waiting time and how many people
are in the queue for emergency treatment at Maidstone Hospital and
the Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury is now available
online.
The real-time service, which updates constantly, was
launched on FridayJuly 20 by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS
Trust.
It comes after the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
issued a formal warning to the Trust in February after finding its
accident and emergency unit at the new Pembury hospital
overstretched, understaffed and failing patients.
On the website this week, waiting times at both sites were
typically around an hour, with the number of patients waiting
tending to be less at Maidstone than at Pembury.
Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark (Con), who pressed chief executive
Glenn Douglas to bring in the new service, said: “One of the
problems that the Trust told me was contributing to the longer
waiting times at the A&E department of the Tunbridge Wells
Hospital is that demand has been much higher than expected.
"If I knew that there were long waiting times at Tunbridge
Wells, I would definitely consider going to Maidstone instead.
Having live information available helps people make this choice so
I am delighted that the NHS Trust has agreed to do this.”
A trust spokesman added: “While emergencies and critically ill
patients will always be seen as a priority in our A&E
departments, other patients with minor injuries will be able to
decide where to go for treatment – a decision which could be
influenced by the information on the website.
“However, it must be emphasised that the website waiting times
should only be used as a guide, as the times shown cannot be
guaranteed.
To access the information visit www.mtw.nhs.uk
27/07/12
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