A ROW is brewing between NHS Warrington and the hospital over finances and targets.

It is understood that NHS Warrington believes the hospital is admitting patients from A&E who do not need treatment in order to keep within their target to see everyone in A&E within four hours.

“There has been an increase in admissions and the number of attendances at A&E is staying the same,” said Dr Sarah Barker, NHS Warrington’s medical director at a board meeting last week.

There has been a 24 per cent increase in admissions this month, of whom the majority then spent less than 24 hours in hospital, she said.

“It seems driven by the fact we have to deliver four hour targets,” she added.

But Catherine Beardshaw, the chief executive of Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it would make ‘no sense’ for doctors to admit patients who do not need it.

“The PCT (primary care trust) believe we are admitting patients to improve targets. When the pressure is so great why would we admit patients to put them in beds in the system that is so busy?”

The hospital is so busy now that temporary ambulance diverts are being put on, stopping emergency admissions for a short time.

“On Monday last week we asked if another hospital could take a divert but every hospital in the area said they were too busy,” said Mrs Beardshaw.

“The whole system is under pressure, not just Warrington. If numbers in attendance go up then we get an increase in admissions.

“We are as committed as they (NHS Warrington) are to stop this as it is putting huge pressure on our staff, huge pressure on the amount of time we have for the patients already in the hospital.”

The hospital was also accused of getting ‘more effective at coding’ so it can receive more money per procedure.

“In a matter of four months there has been almost a 10 per cent increase in the amount that NHS Warrington paid for hospital treatment,” said NHS Warrington chief executive Andrew Burgess.

“Has there been a difference in case load or are we being charge more for the same activity?”

Again Catherine Beardshaw denied the claims, stating that some patients cost more per procedure as they may be more complicated cases.

“Coding has to be accurate because otherwise how do we identify the costs we have been incurring? They are designed to reflect costs,” she said.

“It would be negligent of us if we did not record things properly.”