Gloucester: NHS boss says people have died waiting for ambulances

A decision has been made to "bring the queue indoors" at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

An NHS boss has said people have died while waiting in the community for an ambulance.

Delays in paramedics reaching patients is partly due to handover delays at hospitals, an ambulance trust said.

Chief executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Deborah Lee, said a decision had been made to "bring the queue indoors".

Some patients are being treated in corridors at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital to reduce handover delays.

Ms Lee said this was an extreme measure for extreme circumstances.

She told Gloucestershire's Health Overview Scrutiny Committee that it was safe to do this, but admitted it was not "high quality care" as "nobody wants to be cared for in that setting".

Ms Lee also admitted the situation was not sustainable but said handover times had improved and 90% were under an hour.

Deborah Lee said the trust had a vacancy rate of 10%

South Western Ambulance Service said it was working hard to reduce delays and working closely with partners to prevent them.

During the meeting at Shire Hall in Gloucester on Tuesday, councillors heard recruitment was a problem for Gloucester Royal Hospital.

Ms Lee said the NHS trust employed around 9,000 people but had a vacancy rate of 10%.

She said the trust had not given up on the "goal of being fully recruited" - but described urgent emergency care as the "Achilles' heel".

Gloucestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson was at the meeting.

Police 'trapped'

Mr Nelson said police officers were "too often called out and then trapped" at hospitals.

Det Supt Steve Bean said he had no problem helping the health service as a "safety net" - but said officers had been driving people to hospitals "for months".

Ms Lee said part of the problem at A&E was the number of patients ready to be discharged, blocking beds for new arrivals.

She said the Gloucester hospital had an average of 230 patients pending discharge.

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