DOCTORS' leaders have branded emergency care in North Staffordshire as "Third World".

GPs claim people were being put at risk by being kept at home instead of being treated at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

On Thursday, the complex took the rare step of calling a major incident – a measure normally reserved for disasters such as motorway pile-ups.

It triggers actions ranging from off-duty nurses being brought back to work, some patients being re-directed to other hospitals and doctors being asked to refrain from sending urgent referrals.

The latest crisis prompted a stinging rebuke from the head of North Staffordshire's GP body, who said: "Conditions at the hospital are appalling – it's like the Third World."

The attack from Paul Golik, secretary of the local medical committee (LMC) and a GP in Norton, came after an announcement that 81 more beds are being made available in private nursing homes and community hospitals to reduce the burden at the hospital.

Dr Golik added: "No matter how many initiatives are taken, it gets worse every year. We get blamed for referring patients needlessly to the hospital but they never come up to us with any proof to back that up.

"We are told the accident unit is clogged up by dross, druggies and drunks – but are we seriously expected to believe that was the case on a Thursday afternoon when the major incident was called?

"I also worry we are placing at risk those patients we send home instead of to hospital because of the lack of a bed."

Longton GP Dr James McCarthy, a fellow LMC committee member, said: "We now try and support many more patients at home so when their condition flares up they need longer in hospital. This is worrying when our new hospital will have 200 fewer beds."

A hospital spokesman said: "The major incident process was in place for three-and-a-half hours but during that time, the emergency department doors were never closed.

"Ambulances were re-directed to other hospitals where it was safe and appropriate to do so, but patients who needed more urgent care were still brought to University Hospital.

"Staff from here and the two PCTs worked very effectively to manage the available capacity in the whole local NHS.

"The number of attendances was no greater than it has been recently, but a higher proportion of these patients were very poorly and required admission.

"The situation was not unsafe, but staff took decisive action to avoid it escalating to an unacceptable level."

See Letters: Page 8