THE dire predictions of Save the Alex over paediatric services have come true with the news that overcrowded Worcestershire Royal Hospital has been diverting sick children to other hospitals around the region.
Local health trust Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust earlier this year closed the children’s ward at the Alex, prompting the warning from Save the Alex chairman Neal Stote.
The children’s ward at the Royal was closed on November 18 and December 8 after ‘coming under increased pressure’ said the spokesperson for the Care Quality Commission.
Mr Stote said: “This has all been entirely predictable.
“They have been sending the sickest of children, children who need to be in hospital overnight, across the West Midlands, to Coventry, to Dudley to Hereford.
“They’re sending children, and their parents all over the county and beyond – it doesn’t inspire confidence, does it?”
On the incident of November 18, the BBC quoted a trust spokesperson as saying: “Some ambulance conveyances were diverted to other hospitals to help us manage the pressure.
“This is something that is enacted to ensure the NHS is able to manage periods of high demand.”
On 8 December, it said it did not refuse admission to any child, but it may not have had available beds at the time of admission.
