University Hospitals Dorset see rise in A&E admissions

The two emergency departments at Royal Bournemouth and Poole Hospitals have seen “record demand” in recent months, which culminated in the Daily Echo reporting on an 81-year-old terminally ill man who had to wait eight hours to see a doctor. 

The father was stuck in a backlog of up to 20 ambulances in the RBH car park for an hour and a half on Thursday and his daughter described the situation as “dangerous”.

• Read more: 'People are going to die': Terminally ill father waited in backlog of ambulances at A&E

As well as the nine per cent increase in ambulance-based admissions, Poole and Bournemouth A&E units have also seen a three per cent increase in general emergency admission since 2019.

Long ambulance queues amid huge A&E demand (Image: Reader)

A UHD spokesperson said: “These increases could be due to a variety of factors, including more people visiting the area as they choose to holiday at home this year and becoming unwell, and people putting off accessing medical help due to the pandemic who are now seeking it.

“We’re working with the ambulance service to ensure those patients that need urgent care receive it as soon as possible, and with our partners in the local authorities to ensure patients ready to leave hospital can do so.”

I saw beds out in the corridors"

Former Bournemouth mayor Phil Stanley-Watts now works in logistics at RBH and he told the Daily Echo that he hopes events like Thursday “never happen again”.

He said: “The A&E department was heaving. It was so busy that I saw beds out in the corridors and my heart goes out to the gentleman who had to wait for eight hours, it’s abhorrent. 

“A doctor told me that it was the busiest he’s seen in his career and I wasn’t surprised. It’s so important to support the staff and I think that the Council must work more closely with the hospital trust to ensure that people who are not in need of emergency care understand where they can go instead of A&E.

He added: “There is of course a vast backlog of patients requiring care after the pandemic, that coupled with emergency cases means that the local NHS is stretched.”

South Western Ambulance Service said that it was experiencing “unprecedented, high-level demand” after the events of Thursday.

• Read more: Ambulance service has busiest day EVER at weekend

The service experienced its busiest day on record on Sunday July 18 as it responded to 3,522 incidents.

They responded to 23,088 incidents in the week prior, equivalent to one every 26 seconds.

Reported figures showed that incident numbers were 30 per cent higher than those recorded on the same week two years prior.

In 2017, it was announced that the A&E unit at Poole Hospital would close and Bournemouth Hospital would become the major emergency care site for the region, leaving Poole for planned care.