Top doctor says ‘lessons will be learnt’ with seven-month delay at new A&E at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Health bosses say lessons have been learned during the seven-month delay to the opening of Huddersfield’s new £15m A&E department.

Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust is undertaking a large-scale reconfiguration of services at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax.

The new A&E build is the first part of the scheme to be completed and Trust bosses are keen to ensure further developments do not affect avoidable problems.

Open days were held at the new A&E last September, ahead of the planned opening in October.

However, checks found that the wrong joint compound had been used on the water pipes and had to be removed and replaced.

The new facility finally treated its first patient at 10 minutes after midnight on May 22, some seven months later.

Speaking at a meeting of the Calderdale and Kirklees Joint Health Review Committee, Dr Mark Davies, consultant in emergency medicine and clinical lead for A&E development, said lessons would be learnt.

“They will be much stricter, not controls, but supervision of inspections,” he said. “We’ve had a number of supervisors within the construction partner and working for us independently, but there’s a time when we need to increase that level of supervision.”

Dr Davies pointed out that solving the pipe problem came at no cost to the Trust and that the remedial work was paid for by the contractor.

The new A&E, which saw more than 8,000 patients in its first month, had had a “set-in” period but staff were now getting used to the new environment, Dr Davies said.

He added: “We haven’t changed anything significantly yet. We were keen not to make bad decisions from the start and there was nothing critical that we needed to change. It will be a full review of how it went over the last month and how we need to tweak things.

“And then there will be further work on how we change the way we work to maximize the benefits that the building brings.

“It was a big change to begin with and there is a limit to how much you can expect a large group of staff to change where they work and how they work.”

Planning for the overall reconfiguration of services began back in 2013 when, at that time, it was proposed to completely close A&E at HRI. It was only saved thanks to a huge public campaign.

Dr Davies said the opening of the new A&E had now given Trust staff a lift and a morale boost. He added: “There is a sense of excitement and almost a springboard within the organization that this has become a reality after 11 years.”

There has also been a boost in recruitment too, with Dr Davies saying: “We have been able to recruit some new consultants as there is evidence of investment in urgent care in Huddersfield and Halifax.”

Questioned by Crosland Moor & Netherton councilor Jo Lawson, leader of the Kirklees Community Independents Group, Dr Davies explained that currently all patients presenting to HRI A&E were treated in Huddersfield.

Heart attack or serious trauma patients were taken to Leeds, while an agreement with Yorkshire Ambulance Service sees sick children and people who have suffered suspected strokes taken straight to Calderdale. Frail or elderly patients or people with injuries go to Huddersfield.

In future – when new A&Es are built at Calderdale – all blue light ambulances will go to Halifax hospital. Anyone turning up at Huddersfield with an ‘acute’ problem will be transferred to Calderdale.

HRI A&E is the first part of a wider £200m reconfiguration of services at the two hospitals, which remains on target for completion in 2029, although funding has yet to be confirmed by the government.

HRI will see investment in existing buildings and become a ‘planned care’ centre, while Royal Calderdale Hospital will have additional wards, two new theatres, a new A&E and a children’s A&E.

The trust is currently working with construction firm Laing O’Rourke on plans for new buildings in Halifax.

Meanwhile, building work on a new Learning and Development Center at Calderdale for staff and students is due to be completed in August or September 2024.

Dr Davies added: “This is the start of a very long programme. The decision to change the way we deliver care began in 2013 and since then we have gone through a process of defining the care model.

“This is just the beginning and there is another big chapter waiting to be delivered.”

Councilors on the committee urged the Trust to engage with the public at an early stage and explain which services will be provided at which hospital.

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