HEALTH bosses have criticised Bolton NHS Foundation Trust for failing to improve the time it takes to get patients home.

Royal Bolton Hospital staff have been aiming to clear beds in the hospital but problems are continuing.

NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) clinical director for commissioning Dr Barry Silvert recently visited the hospital.

At the Friday meeting of the CCG board he told members how, in a full orthopaedic ward, he saw patients who should not have been there.

These included a patient with gout who could have been seen by a GP and a patient who had been waiting five days to see a rheumatologist.

Clinical director for health improvement Dr Stephen Liversedge said: “I am surprised we are so relaxed about this.

“How much collaborative work does it take to explain that a patient who needs to see a rheumatologist in five days can go home and then visit Bolton One to see them?”

The meeting also heard how man who broke his wrist in September had to wait 13 days for an operation following three cancellations – including one after a 10 hour wait in the ward.

For the second month in a row the hospital is expected not to meet its 90 per cent targets for patients seen within four hours of arriving at A&E.

Dr Silvert said problems arose when junior doctors admitted people from A&E who could be sent elsewhere and also struggled to sign off prescriptions so patients could be sent home.

He added: “This has been a recurring theme. Patients are delayed by junior doctors not signing off medication before they finish their shift.The number of times it has been brought up with the trust and it has not improved. The situation is quite frustrating.

“There is a lot of work going into getting people out of the hospital. Stopping them from going in is much more challenging. If you have a junior doctors there is less resistance and more chance of someone being admitted. It requires a consultant present 24/7 to stop it from happening.”

Care specialist Professor Romesh Gupta also expressed his disbelief at the issue.

He said: “I cannot see what the problem is with a patient who is leaving at the weekend to have their prescription ready on Friday before the doctor goes home. I simply cannot understand why they cannot get it right.”

Chairman Dr Wirin Bhatiani said the CCG was doing everything it could to support the trust and turn things around.

He added: “There are lots of challenges and it seems to be slightly worsening every month.”