Healthwatch Portsmouth says it is hopeful of QA's A&E changes

That is the message from watchdog Healthwatch Portsmouth, which is hopeful changes will be made to the hospital’s emergency department.

It follows a damning report by the Care Quality Commission which noted a number of failings made by the Cosham hospital, which is run by Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust.

It included people with serious conditions not being seen in the 15-minute assessment target time, and patients left waiting in ambulances for nearly two hours.

Graham Heaney, chairman of the board at Healthwatch Portsmouth, which aims to help people get the best out of health services, said: ‘I know the trust has got to grips with what was happening and we realise there is quite a lot of work to do.

‘We think they have made a good start but we want to see it continue.

‘We do not want to see them drop back into the same issues.

‘There needs to be a concentrated effort to make sure that the situation does not deteriorate during the winter when A&E is under the most pressure.’

The trust has shared its plans with Healthwatch Portsmouth and Mr Heaney said he is hopeful A&E will improve.

‘When we visited QA Hospital, we picked up on some of the issues it had that were mentioned by the CQC,’ he added. We were concerned about how long it has taken to address the problems.

‘But the trust has since shared its plans, including appointing a lead for the emergency department.

‘We are hopeful this will be the beginning of some improvements.’

Mr Heaney said Healthwatch Portsmouth will visit the emergency department in the future to see how the plans are going.