Response times improved, says NHS
A WESTCOUNTRY health body has responded to a campaign which highlights the long wait for care of a patient in Cornwall.
As reported in yesterday’s WMN, retired teacher Glynn Evans is fronting the British Heart Foundation campaign Hearts Need More, describing how he waited 18 hours to be treated in hospital for a heart attack.
The 76-year-old from Lincolnshire was on holiday in Bodmin in 2022 when he fell ill. He said he was finally seen at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, around 18 hours after his wife first called 999. The ambulance response time and queue of ambulances outside the hospital highlighted a crisis in care.
A spokesperson for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care System said: “We are sorry that we were unable to provide Mr Evans a timely response in 2022. Any occasion where the care we provide falls below the high standards our patients deserve and rightly expect is unacceptable. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people and partners, our response times have recovered to a more stable position, compared to 2022, but there is still more to do.
“Our staff are working tirelessly to avoid delays in ambulances being able to hand over the care of their patients, which is the result of pressure not only on the main emergency department, but across the entire health and care system.
“That’s why we’re providing more care and treatment in people’s homes or in their local community so we can free up our hospitals to admit the most acutely unwell or injured more quickly.”