PATIENTS are being ‘dumped’ in emergency units for up to 16 days in Greater Manchester’s hospitals, according to new figures.

One patient waited 16 days on the emergency assessment unit at Salford Royal and another spent 15 days at North Manchester in the emergency admissions ward.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley claims the units were created to help achieve the Government’s four-hour emergency waiting time target and branded them ‘dumping grounds’. 

He said they were busy, noisy places which sometimes had trolleys rather than proper beds and often men and women were cared for together.

But some of the region’s hospital bosses defended their units saying they played a key monitoring role, had separate male and female areas and proper beds.

Mr Lansley said: “Labour complacently claim that they have abolished long waits for patients being admitted to hospitals, but these figures show that all they have really done is fiddle the figures. 

“The reality is that in some cases patients are being left in often inappropriate wards for days and weeks at a time. It is unacceptable and has to change.”

The figures - which were obtained using the Freedom of Information Act - looked at a sample week in September this year.

Elsewhere in the region, at Trafford General, a patient spent 12 days on the medical assessment unit and another spent 10 days on the medical assessment unit at the Rochdale Infirmary.

Half-way house

Staff in these units assess a patient’s condition before deciding what care they require. They are usually a half-way house between the A&E department and a ward.

But once patients are on them, they no longer count towards A&E waiting times.

A spokeswoman for Trafford General said: “We have a combined MAU and short stay ward where patients are cared for appropriately in single-sex accommodation by consultants and nursing staff.

“The average length of stay on the unit is under two days and most patients are discharged within five days. 

“Very occasionally, a patient may stay there longer if it is appropriate for them to do so – for example, if they have general medical conditions that do not require admission to a specialist ward.” 

The longest wait nationally in an emergency admission unit, sometimes known as a clinical decision unit, was 32 days, according to the figures. On average patients were there for 17 hours before being transferred to a ward. 

Dr Ruth Jameson, medical director of Pennine Acute said: "It is critical that patients get the right care from the right clinical specialist and team at the right time and in the right place and this is what we ensure within the trust. “Long stays in our Admissions Units can happen for any number of reasons - some clinical, some social.

“Admissions units in hospitals have evolved over the years in a number of ways and they are run very differently. Some hospitals do not have admissions units and admit patients directly to their main wards. It is key that each patient is admitted under the care of a named consultant who supervises their care and makes the decision on whether the patient transfers to a specialty ward or remains in the admissions unit; and that the patient receives the very best care on every occasion."

Health Minister Gillian Merron said: "The reality is that the overwhelming majority of patients are seen in A&E within three hours, well within the four-hour standard and a major improvement from 12 years ago.

"The figures presented are misleading and have been deliberately combined with those of assessment units - where patients who need further observation or investigation before a diagnosis can be made are treated. “

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