Senior medics at new Royal Liverpool Hospital 'ashamed and embarrassed' by standards at A&E

Senior medics have told health bosses they are "ashamed an embarrassed" by standards of care being offered at a new hospital.

In a leaked letter those working at the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital, including a clinical director, said staff are "regularly left in tears" at the "chaotic" situation.

They added it was "inconceivable" for the trust to move services into a new hospital with smaller bed base without an effective mitigation plan.

The new Royal Liverpool Hospital fully opened in October 2022, five years after it was initially supposed to welcome patients, transferring services from the 44-year-old building.

The 646-bed hospital cost more than £1 billion to build and run, compared with the original £746 million, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

The letter, signed by 31 medics, including the Clinical Director for A&E care Hon-Wing Shek, was sent in early November 2022 - just a month after patients began arriving - but senior sources say there has been no significant improvement in conditions.

It is suggested the letter has been leaked to the Health Service Journal now due to frustration.

Some of the claims in the letter about about the A&E department:

• "The new environment is overcrowded, chaotic and unpleasant"

• "The reliance on corridor care is unacceptable and unsafe"

• "The need to utilise the waiting room and X-ray waiting area chairs to house patients awaiting admission is completely unacceptable"

• "Frequently, patients are waiting for over 24 hours in these conditions"

• "Patients are receiving unacceptable care in dreadful conditions"

• "We are embarrassed, ashamed and demoralised by the standard of care we are able to provide."

The letter also highlights how staff were "seriously concerned about the effect the environment is having on all Emergency Department staff."

They added they feel the situation has reached a "crisis point".

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital says it has made positive progress since then.

But it added that it recognised "there is still much more to be done to support the team".

In a statement, Dr Jim Gardner, Chief Medical Officer at the Trust said: "Shortly after receiving this letter in early November, the CEO, CNO and myself met with our medical colleagues in the emergency department to listen to their concerns.

"Whilst we have made positive progress since then, we completely recognise thatthere is still much more to be done to support the team.

"We are continuing to work with them and colleagues throughout the Trust to improve patient flow and help relieve the pressures on the emergency floor.

"The pressures facing our emergency departments and reasons for them are identicalto those faced by hospitals across the country.

"We are working alongside our clinical colleagues in the emergency departments, throughout the hospitals and across the system, to explore every avenue to try to provide the best care possible for patients amidst these unprecedented challenges facing the NHS.”

Granada Reports Correspondent Andy Bonner had a look inside the new hospital when it opened

The statement also says since moving into the new Royal there are "more general and acute beds across the Trust" along with an increased number of specialist and assessment beds in the new Royal compared to the old one.

The new hospital is also listed as having 640 beds with en-suite facilities, 18 state-of-the-art operating theatres and 40 critical care beds for patients in ICU (intensive care) and HDU (high dependency unit).