St Helier Hospital’s under-threat accident and emergency department (A&E) is so busy the trust has had to bring in temporary staff in order to cope.

At the hospital's trust board meeting on Friday, June 7, Chrisha Alagaratnam, director of finance and performance, said the increased volume of admissions was disproportionate to their medical staff numbers.

Your Local Guardian: St Helier Hospital is one of the hospitals which could lose its A&E

The trust did not meet the NHS four hour A&E waiting time target during April due to an increase in ambulance arrivals at the hospital, patients requiring the resuscitation department and admission to acute beds for complex problems.

The situation has been escalated to director level and the hospital has been holding daily conference calls with Sutton CCG and Sutton Council asking for assistance.

The trust is trying to bring some agency staff on to their own contracts because of the ever increasing demand for the A&E services.

St Helier’s ongoing emergency pressure raises serious questions about the Better Services Better Value (BSBV) review’s proposals to axe its A&E department.

The proposals rely on investment in care closer to home however campaigners argue that BSBV has not yet come up with a credible plan for the services expected to fill the void of St Helier’s heavily used A&E.

Tom Brake the MP for Carshalton and Wallington has written to health secretary Jeremy Hunt arguing that while A&E attendance is increasing it is too risky to continue with the closure of St Helier’s frontline services.

Your Local Guardian: Council leader Ruth Dombey

Councillor Ruth Dombey, leader of Sutton Council, said: "The pressures experienced in the A&E department at St Helier Hospital are further evidence that it is a vital facility in our community and it would be dangerous folly to close it down."

Sutton CCG has helped St Helier manage its A&E pressures through additional money to pay for more staff in A&E.

BSBV say they are consulting on out of hospital services and local clinicians in the review have recommended there be a major improvement in GP and community based services.

The trust's interim chief operating officer Debbie Frodsham said: “Like other hospitals across the country, our A&E departments have been very busy in recent months.  

“Of course, we have introduced a number of additional measures to help us cope with the pressures, and importantly – despite the additional challenges of working in our busy A&E departments – our staff have worked hard to keep up the high standards our patients expect of us. 

“Last year (to March 2013), we managed to see, treat or discharge 96.9% of our patients in the A&E department within a maximum of four hours which is 1.9% better the Government target of 95%.  However, the start of this financial year has been particularly challenging for us, and for April that figure was just below the target at 94.5%.

“Achieving the standard for last year is an incredible achievement – especially when you consider that St Helier Hospital’s A&E and urgent care centre were undergoing a significant £5.5 million refurbishment at the same time.”

A spokesman for the review said said: "Better Services Better Value (BSBV) is not about a reduction in emergency departments, but about concentrating emergency services in fewer, larger units.

"These expanded emergency departments would provide consultant cover 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making services safer and making sure they met the clinical standards local clinicians have signed up to."

Hospitals across the country are facing an A&E crisis with vulnerable and elderly people placing a huge added pressure on departments and Mr Hunt has given health bosses one year to come up with a plan to alleviate the pressure on the nation’s A&E departments.

Your Local Guardian: A drop-in session will be held by the Better Services Better Value team for Surrey residents at Bourne Hall, in Ewell, on March 20

Uncertainty caused by the BSBV review is impacting the trust’s ability to hold on to staff, it was also claimed.

The trust’s chief executive, Matthew Hopkins, told the board that the problem was something he wanted them to be mindful of.

Councillor Ruth Dombey, leader of Sutton Council, has called the ongoing uncertainty "unfair" on both staff and patients.

She said: "It is absolutely essential that the process is concluded as quickly as possible - or better yet abandoned entirely - so that the hospital can carry on providing high-quality healthcare for the residents of Sutton."

BSBV said they were working with all the trusts to keep staff informed and if the proposals went ahead they would be implemented over the five years.

A spokesperson said: "We do not envisage staff losing their jobs, though some roles would change if our proposals were to go ahead."