And it’s not even winter yetAmbulances outside the Royal Stoke University Hospital

Bosses running Stoke-on-Trent’s main hospital have apologised to patients – over A&E waits. Latest data for October shows just 41.4 per cent of Royal Stoke University Hospital A&E patients had been admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours of arriving in the accident unit.

That is the third worst record in England. It is out of 155 hospitals with at least 5,000 A&E attendances in October.

Royal Stoke chief operating officer Katy Thorpe said: “Our priority is always to provide safe, high-quality care for everyone who comes to our emergency departments. We recognise that waiting times are not where we want them to be and we are sorry to any patient or family who has been affected.

“We have a clear improvement plan in place to strengthen our urgent and emergency care services. This includes developing new models of care, reviewing how we staff and organise our departments, and improving patient flow through all parts of the hospital. We are working closely with partners across the local health and care system, and we are also receiving external support from NHS England to help accelerate this work.

“Our teams remain committed to delivering the best possible care and we are grateful to our patients and their families for their patience and understanding during this period of improvement.”

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