BARNSLEY East MP Stephanie Peacock has slammed the government over new figures revealing Barnsley Hospital missed its accident and emergency target for another month.
The figures, released by NHS England, show that for the second consecutive month, more than 1,000 people waited more than four hours to be seen in the hospital’s casualty department.
Of 7,275 people attending in January, 85.5 per cent of patients were seen within four hours, far below the target of 95 per cent.
The figure is lower than December’s 85.9 per cent being seen within four hours, and shows local A&E targets have now not been met since July.
The figures follow reports that NHS bosses have abandoned the four-hour target until April 2019.
Stephanie praised the work of hospital staff in the face of unprecedented cuts from the government.
“Once again we can see that despite the incredible efforts of the hardworking staff at Barnsley Hospital, both patients and staff are being let down badly by this government,” she said.
“For the second month in a row more than 1,000 patients were forced to wait more than four hours in casualty, whilst targets how now been missed every month since July.
“Eight years of appalling underfunding and chronic cuts from this government have had a devastating impact on our local health services and those across the country. This a crisis made by Tory Ministers.”
A spokesman for Barnsley Hospital said: “This winter has been incredibly busy for our Emergency Department. We have seen an increase in the number of patients attending our hospital between November and January and we have also seen many people attending with more complex care needs.
“Despite the pressures, our fantastic staff continue to work incredibly hard to ensure our patients receive the high quality care they deserve. We are now beginning to see improvements as we move out of the busy winter period.”
