Blame lies with increased burden on A&E – MP.

Fresh evidence released this week shows that Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust was the thirteenth most complained about NHS body in the country in 2013/14.

Data from the Health Ombudsman showed that HEFT had received 958 complaints in 2013-14; the vast majority of these were dealt with effectively at a local level. The data also showed that in 2013-14 HEFT received 404,697 clinical incidents ranking it the fourth busiest for clinical incidents out of 440 NHS Trusts and CCGs across the country.

The data was released earlier this week by Dame Julie Mellor, the health ombudsman.

Earlier today Liam Byrne MP and local councillors Ansar Ali Khan and Majid Mahmood carried out snap inspections at the under-used NHS health centres in Washwood Heath and Hodge Hill.

Liam Byrne said: “This fresh evidence proves concerns which have been growing for months. Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust is overstretched. The staff at hospitals such as Heartlands do brilliant work but mismanaged resources such as our local NHS Health Centres mean that they are fighting a losing battle. More and more people are having to head for the hospital when they should and could be being treated at their local health centres. We need a plan for getting our multi-million pound health centres in Washwood Heath and Hodge Hill fully operational as soon as possible.”