Winter has arrived a month early at Royal Stoke hospital

50 patients with covid occupying beds

- Phil Corrigan Local Democracy Reporter

WINTER pressures are hitting Stoke-on-Trent's main hospital earlier than expected - with 50 patients with covid now occupying beds.

Ambulance handovers at University Hospitals of North Midlands were taking 78 minutes on average at the end of September - compared to the national standard of 15 minutes.

UHNM bosses say there has been a 'sharp increase' in respiratory viruses, including covid, flu and RSV, while actions aimed at improving performance have not worked as well as hoped.

They told a board meeting that performance metrics showed that winter conditions had effectively arrived around a month earlier than expected. The trust is now having to update its action plan in order to get back on track.

Chief executive Simon Constable said that while the emergency department had been improving earlier in the summer, things had got worse in September and October.

He admitted that UHNM’s performance in terms of urgent and emergency care is ‘not good enough’ and things had to improve.