§ Sir Norman FowlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will inquire into the considerations which have led hospitals in the West Midlands to be unable to take patients carried by the Staffordshire Ambulance Service; and if he will make a statement. [62539]
§ Mr. MilburnComprehensive arrangements exist for managing escalations in demand for accident and emergency services in Birmingham and Solihull, and the Black Country is working towards such an arrangement. Acute hospitals work together to ensure that sufficient accident and emergency capacity is available to meet the needs of the community at all times.
Within these arrangements, a "respite" can be called by an individual hospital in the Black Country with the agreement of its trust chief executive, normally for a maximum of three hours. For Birmingham and Solihull, an additional measure is that the requests for respite have to be sanctioned by the emergency capacity manager. As soon as such a situation is declared, it is communicated to other nearby hospitals so they can absorb the excess demand.
Several respite periods were called in hospitals across part of the West Midlands during a period of unusual demand from 29 November to 1 December. At no time did these break existing arrangements and patients were appropriately diverted to other hospitals.