Hull Royal Infirmary ambulance queues putting patients' lives at risk - union

Ambulance crews are facing long waits to drop off patients at Hull Royal Infirmary, a union claims

Patients are being put at risk due to ambulances having to queue outside Hull Royal Infirmary, a union has warned.

Handover delays have led to some patients being diverted to Leeds, York and Scarborough, while crews say some patients have died because they cannot be reached in time, Unite said.

They claimed up to 25 ambulances had been left waiting in recent weeks.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service chiefs said efforts were ongoing to tackle what they called "a challenging situation".

Ambulance bosses admit it is a "challenging situation" (stock image)

Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Our members serving in the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in Hull report that patients have already died because they can't be reached in time. Queues of ambulances 20-deep, and even 25-deep have occurred outside of Hull Royal Infirmary A&E."

She said low pay and "unsustainable workloads" had resulted in a "a recruitment and retention crisis".

"While overstretched hospitals and ambulance delays are a nationwide problem, Hull Royal Infirmary is particularly vulnerable," she added.

"This is due to the closure of smaller hospitals in neighbouring towns and Hull's distance from other cities."

Ms Graham said health facilities in Hornsea, Withernsea, Bridlington, Goole and Driffield, which could have helped relieve the pressure, had closed.

Unite's regional officer Chris Rawlinson added: "A serious risk is being posed to those who need emergency care in the city and the surrounding region."

'Hospital pressures'

Operational pressures across the NHS and signs of increased winter demand "being evident earlier than usual this year" were contributing to extended handover times at busy hospitals, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS).

However, figures provided by the trust suggest a reduction in ambulance crew handover times at Hull Royal Infirmary. In October, handovers took, on average, 1hr 32 secs. The current average for November stands at 54 mins and 16 seconds.

The target for handing over patients from an ambulance to hospital staff in England is 15 minutes.

Paul Mudd, head of operations (North and East Yorkshire) at YAS, said the trust was working with its partners to "address handover delays [and] reduce waiting times for those needing an emergency ambulance response".

A spokesperson for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said handover times were "influenced by flow within the hospital system as a whole".

"Current hospital pressures, including high rates of admission and large numbers of people who are unable to leave hospital until community support is in place, contribute to these challenges," they said.

"We recognise the impact which delays in ambulance handovers can have, and clinical teams and paramedics from both the trust and Yorkshire Ambulance Service have been working closely to identify areas for improvement."