No 'quick fix' for hospital delays

The hospital says it is trying to solve the problem

Hospital officials have said there will be "no quick fix" to end long waits for emergency beds in Leicester.

Officials met Leicester East MP Keith Vaz after a complaints hotline he set up received more than 50 calls in a month.

The complaints were about long waits on hospital trollies at the Royal Leicester Infirmary.

They discussed the 20 worst cases which lasted on average 10 hours each, according to Mr Vaz's findings.

'Difficult situation'

Anne MacGregor, head of communications at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said it was working to bring down waiting times.

"The situation is difficult. There will continue to be long trolley waits because it is a multi-agency facet in getting things changed.

"There are lots of things being done to change why people are waiting to get into a bed but it isn't going to be a quick fix.

Keith Vaz set up a complaints hotline

"We are doing what we can by changing practices and talking with community partners and social services to see if there is any slack in the system.

"But we are seeing a sizeable rise in emergency admissions."

She said 30 more beds are being introduced but that more nurses were needed to administer them.

Keith Vaz set up his "trolley watch" hotline after a number of high profile cases of long waits at the hospital.

One included 97-year-old Evelyn Brown who had a 10-hour wait with a suspected broken hip in October.

BBC News Online reported that Mrs Brown was in agony during her wait which was blamed on a shortage of beds and high admissions.