The following statement has been issued in response to a news story relating to a patient who came to A&E last Wednesday.
Chief Executive Dr Susan Gilby said: “It is unfortunate that in these circumstances, when a young mum is rightly concerned and worried about the health of her child, the options to gain appropriate assessment out of hours are often not known about. When Lily and her parents visited the Countess of Chester last week they were triaged within 10 minutes by a nurse, who assessed Lily’s condition as not being an emergency. Lily was then seen by an ED doctor in under three and a half hours and further assessed by a paediatrician within a further two hours who confirmed that she was well enough to return home without further treatment. We are confident that Lily’s avoidable attendance at ED was managed within appropriate guidelines. Had Lily required admission, a bed would have been allocated to her in a timely manner.
"We are working closely with our partners in the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) to make sure that there is appropriate support available to young parents for out of hours NHS care and advice.
"We wish Lily and her mother well."