Alexandra Hospital to stop taking most trauma patients

The decision aims to keep beds free for surgery at Redditch, bosses said

Most trauma patients will no longer be treated at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital from Saturday.

West Midlands ambulance crews will instead be diverted to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

An incident control room has been set up in Worcester to try to reduce the high number of patients waiting in the back of ambulances.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the move will help keep beds free for planned surgery in Redditch.

Ambulance services are under their highest states of alert and waits for a 999 response are putting lives at risk, the College of Paramedics told the BBC on Thursday.

In September, 622 ambulances waited more than an hour to discharge their patients at Worcestershire Royal.

Ambulance crews have now been notified that there will be no ability to admit patients to hospital with trauma injuries, other than major trauma, at the Redditch site from 00:01 GMT on Saturday.

This includes patients with injuries including broken bones and open fractures of the hand, wrist or toes.

'Necessary trauma services'

Paramedics who are unsure where to take patients have been advised to contact the regional trauma team.

One paramedic, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was a "major disaster" that would lead to further ambulance queues.

Ambulances will divert to Worcester from Saturday

"It will mean more ambulances stuck outside Worcester for longer and will lead to patients waiting longer in pain to get treated," they said.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it had been informed by the hospital trust that from Saturday there was "no inpatient facility for certain trauma patients that may require admission to hospital for care at the Alexandra Hospital".

"Therefore, to ensure that patients receive the best possible care, ambulance crews will convey these patients to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where there are the necessary trauma services available," it added.

The service has already been diverting patients from Kidderminster Hospital to Redditch to alleviate pressure on Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

More recently, patients from the Stourport-on-Severn area have also been taken to Redditch to try to relieve pressure on the Worcester site.

Paul Brennan, deputy chief executive and chief operating officer at the hospital trust, said an emergency trauma service would continue at Redditch and the decision helped develop an inpatient trauma unit at Worcester.

"Focussing more inpatient trauma surgery on our Worcester site will also help us protect beds at the Alexandra Hospital for patients on waiting lists for planned surgery, reducing waiting times and the risk of cancellations and supporting our plans to develop the Alexandra as a centre of excellence for planned surgery," he added.

The creation of the incident control room in Worcester is one response by the trust to relieving the "extreme pressure" being felt across the county's health and social care system, the hospital trust's board meeting heard on Thursday.

Since Monday, a multi-agency approach, involving the trust, ambulance service, the county council and clinical commissioning groups, has been running "with the aim of ensuring all services are better prepared ahead of the winter period".