Hywel Dda Health Board chairman Chris Martin gave that message to Carmarthenshire Community Health Council when they quizzed him over claims hospitals were bypassing Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli.

​They feared that could be creating “massaged” figures to justify the health board’s proposal to close the hospital’s accident and emergency unit.

But Mr Martin said: “It’s about the clinical need of the patient.

“It’s a decision making process made by the paramedic on the ambulance.”

Information uncovered by Llanelli AM Keith Davies had prompted fears ambulances were instructed not to deliver patients to Prince Philip.

The figures show 3,709 people were taken to Prince Philip Hospital in the 12 months to November, while 2,684 people from the SA14, SA15 and SA16 postcodes were taken to Glangwili hospital in Carmarthen and 1,180 were taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

via This is South Wales.

The Queen’s Medical Centre, which is run by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), is being designated as the East Midlands major trauma centre which means patients will now get 24/7 access to specialist teams of clinicians, intensive care and brain surgery.

The major trauma centre will form the hub of a new trauma care system for the whole region which will treat people with very serious, multiple injuries like those you would associate with  car accidents, serious gun and knife wounds or falling off a horse. It will be supported by a number of trauma units which are being set up at other hospitals around the region that will stabilise patients who need to be transferred on to the major trauma centre or look after less seriously injured patients.

via Capital East Midlands.

Data provided by the 11 ambulance services showed all are experiencing difficulties handing over patients.

Hospitals are supposed to take charge of them within 15 minutes of the ambulance arriving, but some are missing this in over half of cases.

Waits of an hour are even being experienced at times, delaying crews from attending other 999 calls.

It means paramedics are left waiting with their patients in hospital corridors or stuck in their vehicles until a nurse or doctor can take the person off their hands.

via BBC News

Temporary diversions are designed to allow hospitals the chance to clear backlogs of patients and free up staff.

West Midlands Ambulance Service and the four major hospitals in the Black Country – New Cross, Wolverhampton, Russells Hall, Dudley, Walsall Manor and Sandwell – have agreed a deal.

via Express & Star.

In two months, 671 patients – an average of 11 a day – waited longer than the government-set target time in our area.

Breaches have more than quadrupled from the 119 recorded in the same period last year.

Trust managers have now nominated special ‘queue nurses’ who take patients from ambulance crews, freeing up the paramedics to return to duty.

They are also working with South Central Ambulance NHS Trust who are using a ‘split crew’ system in which only one worker stays with the patient.

This means their partner can team up with another ambulance and reduce the number of vehicles queuing outside the hospital.

via Portsmouth Today .

Thousands are being left in car parks, holding bays and corridors before being admitted to accident and emergency waiting rooms.

Critics last night blamed the failures on Labour’s strict targets, which state that 98 per cent of those admitted to A&E must be treated within four hours. 

Read full article: Mail Online.

Although the number of patients attending A&E continued to increase last year with 19.6 million visits recorded across England, NHS staff have continued to deliver the same excellent standards of care with almost all of these seen, diagnosed and treated within four hours of arriving at A&E departments.

Read full article: eGov monitor

Although the number of patients attending A&E continued to increase last year with 19.6 million visits recorded across England, NHS staff have continued to deliver the same excellent standards of care with almost all of these seen, diagnosed and treated within four hours of arriving at A&E departments.

Read full article: eGov monitor

First launched in 2007, the move is aimed at reducing admissions to the accident and emergency departments in hospitals.

The unit will be stationed on Broad Street on Friday and Saturday night.

Read full article: Nursing Times.

The reforms have paved the way for new ‘urgent care’ centres where patients can seek help for a range of ailments and injuries in the same way A & E departments do.

Dozens of the centres are planned for NHS trusts across the country in a bid to reduce the burden on A & E departments. The urgent care centres will deal with minor, non emergency cases, allowing A & E departments to direct their resources to the most serious cases.

Read full article: Emergency Services News.