Covid: Wrexham Maelor hospital told to improve social distancing

The hospital had previously been told it needed to tackle waiting times before the pandemic struck

Inspectors say a hospital needs to urgently tackle long waiting times and a lack of social distancing in A&E.

Ambulance crews faced "significant delays" in handing over patients at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, according to Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.

A remote quality check also found a lack of safety measures to stop people catching Covid in the A&E waiting room.

Hospital bosses said they had taken steps including temperature checks and opening more cubicles.

Inspectors carried out the latest quality check at Wrexham Maelor remotely in November, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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They acknowledged that some issues raised during an earlier visit in August 2019 had been addressed, with patients no longer left queuing on trolleys in corridors because of the risk of infection.

'Challenging' year

However, they called for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to take further steps to ensure people receive care in a timely manner.

They said the Welsh Ambulance Trust "were still reporting significant delays at the hospital".

"We were told that this year was particularly challenging due to Covid-19 and the need for patients to socially distance," the inspectors said.

During December, Wrexham Maelor A&E was one of the worst performing in Wales, with only 53.7 per cent of the 4,146 patients who came through its doors seen within the four-hour target.

Wrexham and neighbouring Flintshire have had Wales' highest Covid cases rates since early January

Problems with Covid safety had been raised by a member of the public who took their child to A&E but "made a decision to leave as they did not feel safe due to a lack of ability to socially distance", the inspectors added.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it welcomed the recognition of the progress made since the 2019 inspection.

Officials said they were tackling concerns about social distancing by carrying out temperature checks and increasing cubicle capacity, with measures also taken to improve waiting times by speeding up the flow of patients.

Maureen Wain, hospital director at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said they had also won Welsh Government funding for an urgent primary care centre in the outpatient department to relieve the pressure on A&E.

"We will continue to work hard to address areas highlighted in the report where further improvements could be made," she added.