Letter to the Editor: Critical incident continues at NGH - A critical response

As a headline, it was intended to shock: Northamptonshire hospitals have warned of significant winter pressures and ‘unprecedented’ demand during November and December. At least, this ought to be shocking, but KGH and NGH are on record as having some of the worst handover times in the country. 75% and 71% of patients wait over 30 minutes to be transferred to A&E respectively, that is, of course, not accounting for the wait times for an ambulance in the first place.

Last year Northampton had the dubious honour of being referenced at Prime Minister's Questions, where Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition, remarked that the average wait time for an ambulance was very nearly a full 2 hours above the 18 minute target set by the then Conservative government. It doesn’t appear to have improved, despite severe and repeated hand wringing from the top.

Indeed, these critical incidents are nothing new, the Chron has reported on critical incidents at NGH for at least 3 winters in a row. In February of last year it was reported that A&E was operating at ‘over double the normal capacity’. One starts to wonder if the Chron’s use of ‘unprecedented’ in the headline isn’t a touch hyperbolic. Given past trends, it seems that this kind of crisis is, in fact, very much a part of an entrenched precedent!

And why shouldn’t it be? Despite alleged changes in the way in which care is administered in the community and every step being taken to minimise so-called ‘bed blocking’, the overall capacity of NGH hasn’t changed for at least 10 years, if anything, according to various reports, it has decreased. In the Care Quality Commission’s report, dated 27/03/2014 it states that NGH has an 800 bed capacity and serves a population of 380,000 (general acute services). According to the Annual financial report for 2023/4, the population for general acute services has increased by over 12%, to 426,700 and bed capacity has declined, per NGH’s ‘Green Plan’ proudly displayed on their trust website, to 790. Perhaps reducing bed capacity is some sort of carbon reduction wheeze?

In spite of, or perhaps as a result of, an effective deficit of around 108 beds just to meet the standard of care offered 10 years ago (graded as ‘requires improvement even at the time), NGH has managed to find the funds to pay its Chief Executive Officers a salary routinely in excess of that of the Prime Minister. Doubtless the hospital has to meet a bevy of ‘value for money’ targets dreamt up by an army of bean-counters in Whitehall, but where is the value for money offered by a board whose organisation has routinely failed to deliver the minimum standard of care, time and time again? Each year our ever-growing town makes the news, both local and national, for failing to prepare, despite knowing that capacity is insufficient. Each year people suffer needlessly whilst waiting for ambulances, or sat in corridors.

It seems to me that despite big talk in the House of Commons, neither Labour nor the Conservatives have grasped our local NHS crisis by the nettle, instead preferring to shift blame to the other. If anyone is foolish enough to think that things can only get better, I’ll remind you that Labour have been in charge of Wales for generations, where Healthcare is a devolved matter, and it is, if you can believe it, in a worse state than England. It doesn’t seem there’s any hope of tangible, material, change whilst we continue with the same old, clapped out, red and blue, maybe it’s time to look outside the box? Northampton is in dire need of reform.

When is enough enough? When will we get the capacity and leadership needed for a town of our size?