Shropshire hospitals address spike in A&E deaths

New wards have been opened to relieve the pressure on emergency departments

A spike in the number of deaths in two A&E departments in Shropshire has led to changes being implemented.

Towards the end of 2022, the units recorded three times the average number of deaths, a report has revealed.

It confirms Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) saw 140 deaths in A&E in the last three months of that year, up from 75 in 2021.

As well as noting the effect of waiting times, it said assessment times and help for frail patients were better.

New recovery wards have also opened since then, to address pressure in the emergency departments.

More A&E beds

The report said it could not find "any overall failures or omissions in medical or nursing care".

But it said longer stays in hospital were "likely to have had the greatest impact on older frailer patients".

Annual figures show there were 404 deaths in Shropshire's emergency departments in 2022/23, of which 163 were referred to the coroner.

Gareth Robinson, NHS Shropshire's director for delivery and transformation, said as well as introducing two recovery wards, it had increased the number of A&E beds over the busy Christmas period.

He added: "I'm really comfortable that the capacity that's coming from this area has been a real boon to the system."

This story was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.