Blackburn A&E is north west's busiest for 'blue light' calls (From Blackburn Citizen)
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Blackburn A&E is north west's busiest for 'blue light' calls
4:15pm Wednesday 13th February 2013 in Blackburn
By Bill Jacobs, Local government reporter
ROYAL Blackburn Hospital receives more ‘blue-light’ ambulances than any other in the North West, it has been revealed.
Vehicles had been queueing up outside the accident and emergency unit waiting for treatment for lengthy periods.
But the hospital and ambulance service have brought in an action plan to cut down admission delays and a new £9million emergency unit at Burnley General is expected to relieve pressure on the Royal Blackburn when it opens in September.
The shock fact the unit receives more emergency vehicles than casualty departments at other major hospitals in the North West, including in Manchester, Liverpool and Preston, was revealed to Hyndburn MP Graham Jones when he met ambulance chiefs.
He said: “I was surprised to learn this, but I knew from constituents that the Royal Blackburn A and E unit was under heavy pressure.
“I heard reports of ambulances queueing up outside for unacceptably long periods. Even police cars have been bringing in cases because of the pressure.
“There are centres for urgent care and a minor injuries in Burnley, Accrington and Clitheroe but the Royal Blackburn receives blue-light ambulances from right across East Lancashire.
“We know there are real problems with poor health in the area which this reflects. In December, the ambulance service and hospital put in place procedures to speed up admission and reduce the wait for ambulances.”
A spokeswoman for the North West Ambulance Service said: “Royal Blackburn Hospital receives the highest number of patients via the ambulance service in the North West. A great deal of work has been undertaken by the hospital trust, along with ourselves, to improve patient handover procedures.
“Measures put in place have seen a continuous improvement.”
She said there were emergency ‘stand-by’ procedures where paramedics informed medical staff of time-critical patients to ensure immediate treatment.
Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said: “This pressure on Royal Blackburn’s A and E shows the decision to close the casualty unit at Burnley General in 2007 was wrong.
“The new upgraded emergency unit at Burnley with ambulance bays, due to open in September, should relieve the pressure.”
Comments(12)
oracle999
says...
4:41pm Wed 13 Feb 13
burner
says...
5:43pm Wed 13 Feb 13
.
" Hello subscriber, what is your emergency?"
.
" I have an acute bout of sarcasm , made worse by regional planners !! "
Sajdin
says...
5:47pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Also what happened to the MP's promise on our doorsteps of bringing back A&E to Burnley?
Also why is this newspaper obsessed with the NHS recently. Trying every effort to put it into a bad light, stop being biased and report some good news !
Pinky&theBrain
says...
5:50pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Mikeee47
says...
5:54pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Sajdin wrote:Cant you read?? the new A&E opens in September, and YES A&E is in portacabins as a walk in patient, as is the waiting room,, disgraceful, been worn the tee shirt dont want it back.
A&E is not located in portacabins, UCC at RBH is, and the new UCC is currently being built at RBH to replace the portacabins.
Also what happened to the MP's promise on our doorsteps of bringing back A&E to Burnley?
Also why is this newspaper obsessed with the NHS recently. Trying every effort to put it into a bad light, stop being biased and report some good news !
like mentioned above the Doctors and Nursing staff work the hardest to give you the best care, but come on the Trust managers dont know what they're doing
Sajdin
says...
7:02pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Mikeee47 wrote:Mikeee47, sorry I think we both getting confused here. They building a new UCC at BGH which this paper has called it as a "emergency unit". They also building a new UCC at RBH where currently there is portacabins, in order to get rid of them.
Sajdin wrote:Cant you read?? the new A&E opens in September, and YES A&E is in portacabins as a walk in patient, as is the waiting room,, disgraceful, been worn the tee shirt dont want it back.
A&E is not located in portacabins, UCC at RBH is, and the new UCC is currently being built at RBH to replace the portacabins.
Also what happened to the MP's promise on our doorsteps of bringing back A&E to Burnley?
Also why is this newspaper obsessed with the NHS recently. Trying every effort to put it into a bad light, stop being biased and report some good news !
like mentioned above the Doctors and Nursing staff work the hardest to give you the best care, but come on the Trust managers dont know what they're doing
So new UCC sites at both RBH and BGH.
robert mug
says...
7:55pm Wed 13 Feb 13
God these rose tinted glasses are hurting now!
burner
says...
10:02pm Wed 13 Feb 13
retsofad
says...
11:22pm Wed 13 Feb 13
Blue-tonic
says...
12:07pm Thu 14 Feb 13
woolywords
says...
5:08am Fri 15 Feb 13
When I was in the Army, the call, 'man down' meant something to me, as a soldier.
You did anything, everything, to make sure that, that man, as soon as possible, got out of there.
He'd done his bit, game over.
It's what you do.
However, the perverse, is the case in Burnley...
Me and my mate, Tell, are in a Chinese takeaway shop and, after a couple of minutes, Trumpton turn up.
Now don't get me wrong, I like Firefighters..my Uncle Tom was one, but, they are entitled to a bit of stick, at times.
Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb, if you know what I mean..
However, it all went pear-shaped after that..
Me and him left it, walked a bit, found this bloke, down on the path.
He shouted, 'man down here..'
Not that it did any good.
I gave him my phone and did the A,B,C's, then recovery thing.
Trumpton came down and gave us a bit of a turn on the old CPR.
Plod turned up, had a bit of a do, themselves.
That CPR is hard work, trust me.
I'd done it before, in the Falklands.
My mate, Tell, is shouting at him, 'don't you fecking die on us, or I'll boot you to death...'. Great help.
pump, pump, pump, pump, pump.
breathe.
It really takes it out of you, doing that, as you wait for that ambulance.
Have no idea how long he had been down but, Trumpton said they had been that way before going to the the Chinese, and he wasn't there, then..
I checked my watch..
It had been 7 minutes since we found him..he could be OK.
The thing is, your natural thing to do is, help, when you should really, check your watch,
because there is this rule..
The Golden Hour.
If you can sustain a form of life within a person, shedloads of doctors can bring back life, within that golden hour..
Simple as that.
But if management bureaucrats, flock about with hospitals and A&E, your chances of survival are, basically stuffed.
Do the timings yourself, fall down..
Start the clock..
you have to be found, resuscitated,
worked upon, within 3 minutes or brain death is probable.
Tick tock
Someone dials 999.. takes an arm and leg to explain where you are..
Tick tock
Thankfully, the Plod turn up..
Tick tock
but are not trained in that, which you and your mate are doing..
Tick tock
Swearing at them, gives you, a new lease of life...
Tick tock
Pumping that heart may cause a few broken ribs..
Tick tock
Who cares?
Tick tock
The freaking traffic police are here...
Tick tock
pump, pump, pump, pump, pump
breathe...
Tick tock
Motorway cops are, awesome..
Whey hey..
ambulance is here..
Tick tock
They go for leads and stuff, ignoring our sweat..
Tick tock
you're doing a grand job, carry on..
Tick tock
tick tock
beeeeeeeeeeep..
this was Burnley, 2001.
He had but a few hundred yards to go, to live...
Which he did...
3 broken ribs, after a drunken fall.
Who'd have guessed?
We, me and him, were at it, for near 30 minutes, sweating our gonads off, keeping him alive.
And you want to give him another 20 minute ride to Blackburn?
mavrick says...
4:24pm Wed 13 Feb 13