West Midlands ambulance handover delays hit 2,100 hours

Ambulance crews waited a record 2,100 hours to deliver patients at West Midlands hospitals on Tuesday.

The worst delay involved a crew waiting more than 25 hours at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust accepted there were long waits and was trying to prioritise those in most urgent need.

An ambulance service boss has warned it is facing collapse by the end of the summer, because of delays.

According to the NHS, patient handovers should be completed in 15 minutes and none should be waiting more than 30 minutes.

But in May, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) director Mark Docherty said an increasing number of people were waiting in the back of ambulances for 24 hours before being admitted to hospital.

He added serious incidents had quadrupled in the past year, largely due to severe handover delays.

Despite regular meetings between WMAS and hospital trusts in the region, Mr Docherty told the Health Service Journal he expected around a third of his resources to be lost to delays by 17 August, creating a "catastrophic situation".

WMAS said it would "continue to work closely with all local hospitals in the West Midlands to address hospital handover delays" and diverted ambulances to other hospitals, where appropriate.

Hospital trusts in the region have previously said pressure on A&E departments and bed shortages have caused delays in accepting patients from ambulances.

NHS England has said £150m has been allocated to tackle the issue.

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