ACCIDENT and emergency services at Stafford Hospital will not re-open on a 24 hour basis before October.
The department, which has been closed overnight since December 2011, was due to re-open in June, after a previous date in March fell through.
But now, health chiefs in Staffordshire have made the decision that in order to sustain the improvements made since A&E closed overnight – particularly in light of the number of newly appointed A&E staff – it would be better to work towards an October reopening.
A joint statement released Mid Staffordshire Commissioning Board and Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust said: “This opening date will enable the improvements to become embedded and to fully integrate the newly appointed A&E staff into the department.”
Further information about the decision will be available in tomorrow’s Newsletter.
