Thursday, December 1, 2022
NEWS Poppy’s poppy day fundraiser Page 5
WOLVERHAMPTON EDITION
MOTORING Lamborghini’s new supercar Page 25
SPORT Wolves’ club doctor leaves Page 28
The region’s biggest free weekly newspaper Price when sold £1.20
TRUSTS MISS KEY TARGETS
Key targets are being missed by hospital trusts in the Black Country, latest figures show. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital, has been ranked 105th out of 120 in England for its overall performance against key duties of care to its patients. Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust ranks 86th, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 42nd and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 41st. The target for patients to start any type of treatment for a new primary cancer within one month (31 days) from the decision to treat is 96 per cent. But latest figures show
Report by Lisa O’Brien
the Wolverhampton trust achieved 70 per cent, Dudley 85 per cent and Sandwell 90 per cent. The Walsall trust met the target with 99 per cent. The operational standard for A&E waiting times is that 95 per cent of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. The latest figure for Walsall was 71 per cent, 73 per cent at Sandwell, 77 per cent at Dudley and 80 per cent at Wolverhampton. No Black Country trust met the 90 per cent target for patients waitimg six weeks or longer for a diagnostic test. The NHS constitution sets a standard that 92 per cent of
people should wait no longer than 18 weeks from their referral to their first treatment for elective surgery. At the Dudley trust it was 65 per cent, 60 per cent at Wolverhampton, 59 per cent at Walsall and 60 per cent at Sandwell. Diane Wake, elective care lead for the Black Country Integrated Care System, said: “We know patients are waiting longer than we would like, and NHS staff are working extremely hard to address the backlogs. “Despite exceptionally high demand for services, we are making significant progress, with almost 200,000 procedures being carried out every month across the Black Country.”
Extra trams in the run-up to Christmas More trams will be running at peak times leading up to Christmas following the end of strike action. About 170 members of the Unite union began strikes in mid-October, but a new pay deal was offered after it was announced workers would take all-out industrial action from the end of November, potentially
causing chaos to festive travellers. West Midlands Metro said it would now be running a full and frequent service during the festive season with extra trams at peak times. Ray Harris, service delivery director at West Midlands Metro, said: “Trams are now running to all stops between Wolverhampton and Edg-
baston Village with the entire Metro team focused on delivering a safe, secure and reliable service in the runup to Christmas and beyond. “A frequent and robust service will be in operation seven days a week from 4.28am and approximately 1.30am to get customers moving in the run-up to the holidays.”
Switch-on just Delicious
Mayor Sandra Samuels flicks the switch on Bilston Christmas lights Gold medal-winning boxer Delicious Orie was among the special guests as the Christmas lights were switched on in Bilston. Crowds of people braved the cold and took to Church Street in the town to see the lights go on last Friday. Councillor Sandra Samuels, mayor of Wolverhampton, flicked the switch, with special guests including boxer Orie, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this year. Dicky Dodd got festivities under way while Santa made a special appearance at a grotto set up near the Horse & Jockey pub with a fair running at St Leonard’s Church in the town.
Delicious Orie and Dicky Dodd Switch-ons in Tettenhall and at Bantock House have followed. Wolverhampton and Wednesfield were already illuminated for Christmas. n Grinch – Page 16
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