Hospital boss apologises for 'unacceptable' delays

Leicester Royal Infirmary's emergency department remains "challenged" by patient demand, according to the trust

A hospital boss has apologised for "unacceptable" delays at Leicester Royal Infirmary's emergency department.

Jon Melbourne, chief operating officer at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, made the statement at Leicester City Council's health scrutiny committee in response to last month's critical incident.

People were urged to only attend hospital emergency departments for life-threatening illnesses or injuries on 9 and 10 October.

The hospital's emergency department continues to "remain challenged" by patient demand and its plans for the winter have been "revisited", the meeting was told.

'Unacceptable'

Committee chair Karen Pickering described the declaration of a major incident in October as "worrying".

Liberal Democrat member of the committee, Zuffar Haq, referred to a patient who had waited 16 hours in an ambulance outside the emergency department during the critical incident.

Mr Melbourne said he was "heartbroken" about that patient's experience and took "full responsibility" for it.

"It is a reflection of the pressures that we're facing as an NHS and a health and care system," he said.

"It is unacceptable and we are all motivated to make sure that doesn't happen again."