Reduced backlog in patient care for Sherwood Forest Hospital Trust

The trust, which runs King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton, Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital, says it experienced an intense period of demand between April and the end of June – which was exacerbated by strike action.

The rate of people attending the trust’s A&E departments was 11 per cent above expected during this time.

Ambulance arrivals in June also reached some of their highest levels recorded.

Junior doctors’ strikes impacted trust staff’s ability to deliver planned care, particularly in outpatients, with various medical staff members being redeployed to support urgent and emergency care.

However, the trust managed to still work on its backlog of patient cases during this time.

By the end of June, 78-week wait patient cases were eliminated and 65-week waits are on target to disappear by the end of September.

The trust’s ambulance handover times remained among the best in the country and the trust was the only one in England with zero handovers above 60 minutes in May and June.

Rachel Eddie, chief operating officer, speaking at a board meeting on August 1, said: “We’ve got very strong medical same-day emergency care which is above the national standard.

“It’s a very positive step in terms of what we can do in controlling that admission demand.

“A new CT scanner towards the end of the year will help address a backlog of people waiting for these scans.

“When that comes in, that will clear our CT and cardio backlog within a very very short space of time.”