Burstow - Epsom and St Helier failing to meet new waiting time target in two thirds of cases

2.24.36pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th Jun 2007

Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, has written to the Chief Executive of the Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust after government figures revealed it is 14 percentage points below the London average for waiting times.

Mr Burstow wrote to the Trust after the government revealed new figures for every Hospital and Primary Care Trust in the UK showing how many operations are performed within 18 weeks of referral from a GP - the new target waiting time. Epsom and St Helier currently completes treatment within the 18 week period in less than one third of cases - well below the London average of 45%.

The figures make it the 9th worst Hospital Trust in the capital for waiting times. The Trust was below the average in 7 of the 10 specialist areas of treatment offered by its Hospitals, including trauma, cardiology and gynaecology.

In his letter, Mr Burstow has asked the Trust board how they propose to meet the 18 week waiting time for all referrals by the end of 2008 - the target set by government. He also asked whether the cost saving measures which the Trust is currently taking are likely to make it impossible for the Trust to meet improve its waiting time targets sufficiently.

Mr Burstow has also written to Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, to renew his call for the £41 million cost-cutting target for Epsom and St Helier to be reduced because of concerns about the impact on the quality of patient care.

Commenting on the results, Paul Burstow MP said:

"These figures confirm the worst fears of local residents about the capacity of our local Hospital - the Trust is failing to meet 18 week waiting time target in nearly 70% of cases."

"Across the UK, Hospital managers are recruiting extra staff and taking temporary measures to reduce the backlog of patients waiting for operations and meet this new target."

"But here in Sutton, the massive cuts which London Health bosses are forcing through at St Helier mean that these sort of measures are simply not possible."

"The Trust's managers must be honest about their ability to reduce waiting times while making cuts - local people deserve the truth about the impact of these cost-driven measures."