A CONCERNED councillor has accused Russells Hall Hospital of "failing" the people of Dudley and called for an urgent review to establish the reasons behind its "continued struggles".

Extended A&E waiting times and ongoing reports that patients have been stuck on trolleys due to bed shortages, has led Sedgley councillor Bill Etheridge to conclude the hospital is in "crisis".

His concerns were sparked by hospital chiefs urging people to think twice before using the A&E department during the festive season due to "extreme pressures" on services.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust revealed that last month the hospital saw a 10 per cent increase in attendances to A&E, a 12 per cent increase in patients coming by ambulance and a seven per cent increase in admissions - compared to December 2015.

Councillor Etheridge, who is also a West Midlands MEP for UKIP, said “Once again we have a crisis at Russells Hall Hospital. Nobody is criticising the efforts of the staff but there has to be a question over the management and planning.

“What is needed is for an urgent review into what is causing these constant crises - it seems to happen at the same time every year.

"I want the senior managers to come out and tell us what the problem is.

“Is it money? Is it a shortage of manpower? A lack of space or a realisation that one A&E facility is insufficient to cover the whole of the borough?

“Local taxpayers deserve some answers because as things stand this hospital is failing the citizens of Dudley.”

Dr Paul Harrison, the trust's acting chief executive, said hospital staff always do their "utmost" to see, treat, admit or discharge all emergency patients within the government-set standard of four hours from arrival at A&E, adding: "We know this is best for our patients."

He continued: "The latest NHS England published figures on the four-hour standard are for November 2016. Of the 14,734 emergency attendances, 92 per cent were seen, treated, admitted or discharged within four hours of their arrival, compared to 88 per cent for all trusts nationally.

"Patients arriving by ambulance are assessed in our ambulance triage area as soon as they arrive. During extremely busy periods, when there are no available cubicles, treatment for some patients may start whilst they are on a trolley. We endeavour to move patients to an appropriate treatment area as soon as possible. Patient safety is always our priority."

However the increased pressure and emergency admissions meant the trust was unable to cut its temporary staffing spend to the level it had hoped and led to a re-think about closing one of its inpatient wards, which would have led to a potential saving of between £800,000 and £1.4m.

As it was unable to close one of the wards, the trust instead converted Ward A1 - formerly used as an elderly care ward - into a new GP-led rehabilitation facility called The Evergreen Unit.

Dr Harrison explained: "This has a team of dedicated nurses and occupational therapists who work to help patients become more confident and independent for when they leave hospital."

He said in total, there were 57 individual Cost Improvement Programme (CIP) schemes under way, which aim to improve patient care and experience whilst also ensuring good value for money.

So far this year, CIP projects have saved the trust £6.8m and by the end of the financial year, it is expected that saving will have increased to £10.2m - £1.2m short of its planned savings.