Scarborough Hospital services at risk amid pressures - report

Increasing costs of medication and agency staff have pushed the hospital trust over budget, bosses say

The safety of patient services at Scarborough Hospital was at risk as staff faced "astonishing pressures", health bosses have warned.

A mixture of winter pressures and strikes had led to an "exceptionally busy time", a meeting of the hospital trust's board heard.

Chief executive Simon Morritt said the hospital faced "the longest period of industrial action in NHS history".

However, he thanked staff for "stepping up to do all they can".

On Wednesday, board members at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were told that three days of strike action by junior doctors in December had led to dozens of elective procedures being cancelled across the trust.

A total of 71 planned elective procedures and 458 outpatient first attendances or procedures had not taken place during the period, members heard.

In the year to date, industrial action had resulted in the trust not delivering 1,421 elective procedures and 4,522 outpatient first attendances or procedures, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The hospital trust's chief executive thanked staff for managing the impact of the current pressures

However, the meeting was told that improvements had been made in the number of patients waiting over 62 days on a cancer pathway, with the total standing at 314 instead of the 361 projected for the end of December.

Other changes had also been implemented and ambulance handover times had been reduced, board members heard.

Mr Morritt said: "The challenges we face in January have been astonishingly busy.

"So, a big thank you on behalf of myself and all of the board to our staff for managing the pressure within the organisation."

Board members also heard a report presented by chief operating officer Claire Hansen which warned that the safety of services received by patients over the winter months was at risk.

The report said hospitals within the health trust "may be unable to maintain a consistent rate of flow through urgent and emergency care pathways over the winter months".

That could potentially have an impact on "the quality and safety of services received by patients and their carers and impacting the experience of our staff".

While an action plan had been put in place, bosses said they wanted updates on the management of the risk until at least the end of March.