"Waiting time"

We were very sorry to receive your comments and concerns via the NHS Choices website about your experiences at Altrincham General Hospital during your visits in July 2018.

Ms Garwood, Operational Manager for Trafford Hospitals would like to apologise that the service had stopped accepting any more patients on the afternoon you attended Altrincham General. Ms Garwood explains that in August 2016, the number of Community General Practice phlebotomy services was reduced across Trafford. Since then there has been a significant increase of patients attending Altrincham General Hospital's Phlebotomy service. The Phlebotomy services across Trafford, in the Hospitals and the Community are currently held on a drop in basis, which means that demand is often unpredictable. This does result in a large number of patients attending before the service start time of 08:00 hours and often creates a delay throughout the day. Unfortunately, on some occasions the service has to close earlier than anticipated due to reaching the maximum number of patients that can be seen in that day.

In response to your comments, Ms Garwood informs me the website is currently being reviewed and will be updated shortly.

In addition to the actions described above, and in response to the increase in demand upon the services at both Altrincham and Trafford Hospitals, the Senior Management Team at Trafford Hospital has held discussions with the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) responsible for funding Phlebotomy services for Trafford with a view to introducing a bookable appointment system for phlebotomy patients.

If you would like to further discuss your concerns with us in more detail, please feel free to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0161 276 8686 or by e-mailing pals@mft.nhs.uk quoting reference number PO18/0131.

The Patient Experience Team