By Gillian Ellison

Last updated at 08:55, Friday, 01 March 2013

Patients at hospitals in Carlisle and Whitehaven have been travelling to Hexham for operations to be treated in time.

Hospital bosses said the move was a short-term measure due to recent unprecedented levels of emergency patients admitted to the north Cumbrian hospitals during the winter. The rise in the number of patients has led to a knock-on effect on routine surgery.

Corinne Siddall, operations director at North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, said they had moved the patients to Hexham for general surgery and orthopaedics. They had made the decision so patients did not have to wait more than the 18-week government target following GP referral, she said.

Ms Siddall also said they were hoping to carry out more gynaecological work at Whitehaven and possibly at Hexham, again to meet target waiting times.

Bosses are considering extra consultants for ophthalmology where demand is said to be outstripping capacity at the Trust.

It is currently being supported by Medinet which is contracted to help work through a backlog of patients waiting for eye treatment.

All but three of the hospitals’ 13 services, however, do meet the 18-week national target, a Trust meeting heard on Tuesday.

The acute hospitals are feeling pressure from the number of emergency patients in recent months, as well as in transferring patients to community hospital beds.

Ms Siddall said: “We continue to have pressures in A&E departments although pressure has reduced slightly over the last couple of weeks.”

Both hospitals managed to achieve their A&E government target last week which is for 95 per cent of patients to be seen within four hours from arrival to admission/transfer/discharge.

A service improvement plan monitors the situation weekly.

First published at 08:53, Friday, 01 March 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk