Minister pledges bed crisis help

Lord Darzi said every health authority faced challenges

Government Health Minister Lord Darzi has pledged to help a Staffordshire hospital which has admitted having a bed blocking "crisis".

University Hospital of North Staffordshire said a month of record admissions had led to bed shortages.

Lord Darzi said no patient should wait on a hospital trolley for more than four hours and he would help the health authority to find "some solutions".

The hospital said it planned to make 50 more beds available by Christmas.

University Hospital of North Staffordshire said a further 30 beds would be made available in the new year, while longer-term ways of improving the situation were also being sought.

Dr Gavin Russell, medical director for strategy, said: "When you have a crisis you can tell people you have a crisis and then they will use alternatives.

"But what you must do is provide a system which makes it easier for people to use alternatives rather than come to the A and E department."

'Chairs used'

Barbara Beeston told BBC News she spent more than 12 hours on a trolley after being admitted to the hospital with respiratory problems.

And once she was given a place on a ward she gave up her bed for a 97-year-old patient who had been waiting on a chair.

She said: "I realised that there were elderly people who had been on chairs all night, they hadn't got a bed which I found rather disgusting, especially for our NHS."

The hospital has called in independent consultants to look at how the entire system can be improved.

One plan is to have a daily balance between the number of patients admitted to the hospital and those discharged.

And now Lord Darzi has also pledged his support.

He said: "I think every health authority in the country has challenges on and off and I think we need to look at where we are and what we are trying to achieve."