Queen’s Hospital is increasing the size of its ambulance bay as it struggles to see emergency patients within the four hour time limit.

In August, more than half of patients at the hospital’s “type one” A&E, which treats major emergencies rather than specialist or minor problems, waited more than four hours.

Redbridge Council was so concerned by the poor performance that it met with NHS England and the hospital’s trust on November 9 to discuss how it would improve.

On November 5, health scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Neil Zammett (Lab, Goodmayes) said the trust’s A&E performance was “abysmal, dreadful, appalling and inexcusable”.

He said the council felt Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) should open more services at King George Hospital in Ilford to reduce the strain.

Read more: A third of urgent Queen's Hospital brain scans take too long

Asked about the result of the meeting on November 9, BHRUT’s chief medical officer Magda Smith said the trust has a “clinically led recovery plan” to improve performance.

She said: "We’ve opened a same day emergency care service at Queen’s Hospital, treating more complex patients on the same day rather than needing to admit them.

“We’ve also introduced an Emergency Decision Unit, with emergency care colleagues supported by medical and surgical specialties, ensuring quicker clinical decision making to get patients the care they need faster.”

A report prepared for a meeting of Redbridge Council’s health and wellbeing board yesterday (November 30) said the same day emergency care service was finding space “an issue”.

It also confirmed that the trust had received funding to increase the size of the ambulance bay and to pay an Ambulance Capacity Manager.

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