Epsom and St Helier will miss range of key targets: Burstow

6.24.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th May 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has written to Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, about documents which show the Trust will fail to meet key targets, including those on A&E waiting times and reductions in cases of the superbug MRSA.

Mr Burstow took action after receiving documents which were produced for a board meeting of the London Strategic Health Authority, the body which oversees healthcare provision in the capital.

Mr Burstow has written to the Trust to find out what steps it proposes to take after the SHA revealed its concerns that the Trust would miss 5 of 16 key quality and safety rating. No other Trust in London was projected to miss so many individual targets.

The five targets which the Trust is predicted to miss are:

1. 6 month waiting time for inpatients

2. Year on year reduction of cases of MRSA

3. 18 week maximum waiting time for operations

4. 4 hour maximum waiting time for patients in A&E

5. Other care standards

Mr Burstow has written to the Trust to demand information on the extent by which the targets will be missed, and the steps which are being taken to redress the underlying problems which led to the high number of problems. He also called for the Trust to review its plans for further staff and bed cuts in the light of its failure to meet so many key targets.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Burstow MP said:

"Epsom and St Helier's failure to meet so many core targets are yet further proof of the negative impact of bed and job cuts on standards of care."

"Under its care-taker manager, St Helier has fallen to the bottom of the London league. I only hope the new boss halts the cuts which are crippling the Hospital and starts to prioritise improvements in patient care."