A & E Attendance Up As Are Ambulance Journey Times Yet EKHUFT Staff Work Miracles

Wow! They are amazing, all of them on the frontline at our A & E’s at the William Harvey Hospital (WHH) – Ashford & the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) – Margate. We applaud you for your work in the face of so much adversity. We applaud you for dealing with more of us coming to A & E each year. Thank you.

For the last four years in a row 2016/17 to 2019/20 those attending the two A & E’s in East Kent has increased year on year, according to data published by NHS Digital and displayed in the  interactive chart below.

It is clear the numbers attending in 2019/20 will top all previous figures by a considerable number.

As these numbers have increased, so have the average journey times to get to the WHH or the QEQM from postcodes in the Folkestone & Hythe District according to data released by South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECamb).

Data for 2018 shows that average times to the WHH and QEQM were quicker than they are in 2019/20.

Most of the times have increased by seconds or minutes. However, those living in TN28 postcodes – which cover New Romney, Greatstone-on-Sea, Littlestone-on-Sea have seen an improvement in average journey times, according to SECamb data.

SECamb has seen an increase in ambulances, and frontline personnel yet times are taking longer and there does not seem to be a clear and obvious link as to why this might be.

What with the current coronavirus epidemic those who believe they might need to use A & E really ought to call NHS 111, as it is quite clear from the data that A & E attendances are going to increase for 2019/20; and easily top the 2018/19 figure of 220,738.

The Shepwayvox Team

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