Hospital bosses forced to plunge cash to fix anesthetic crisis

Southport hospital is finally investing £1m in its anaesthetics service to address ongoing staffing issues.

Hospital bosses have moved to reassure patients that services at both its hospital sites are ‘safely maintained’ despite the trust experiencing difficulties recruiting anaesthetists – in common, they say, with trusts across the country.

The concerns were highlighted in the recent General Election campaign in Southport when local Labour party activists claimed NHS documents had exposed ‘extreme’ risks to patient and staff safety in hospitals.

With regard to Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Southport and Formby District General Hospital and Ormskirk and District General Hospital, the party claimed: “There is a catastrophic risk of inadequate staffing levels in the anaesthetic department due to burn out, sickness, annual leave or lack of sufficiently cheap agency staff.