Hospital uses QR codes to lobby MPs for funding

An east London hospital has rolled out QR (quick response) codes in its emergency department to ask patients to lobby their local MP for more funding.

Queen's Hospital in Romford has launched the campaign to raise £35m to upgrade its A&E.

It was built to treat about 325 patients however in December staff saw 750, meaning many had to be cared for in corridors, said Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the hospital.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "It will take time to turn the health service around so patients receive the standards of care they deserve, but it can be done."

When the QR codes, which are on posters dotted around the A&E department, are scanned with a smartphone camera, users are taken to a website detailing the campaign to raise more funds for the hospital.

In July, when BBC London visited the hospital, the growing numbers of attendances meant that what was once an emergency measure - treating patients in corridors - became the norm.

Ruth Green, director of nursing for the emergency department, previously said corridor care had become "customary practice".

However, she remains hopeful there will be a time when that will not be the case.

"I think people are working together to see what they can do to look for care in different ways," she said.

"It's about what we can do to keep care nearer to our older patients, in their community."

Nurse Belinda Amuah said: "We are struggling to do our jobs and the patients are struggling because they aren't getting the maximum care they need."

The trust's chief executive, Matthew Trainer, said: "This has already been a particularly bad winter, with early January seeing up to 50 patients cared for on our corridors at any one time.

"It's not what we would want for ourselves or our loved ones and it's not good enough.

"The physical layout of the Queen's A&E is inadequate and the additional staff we need to care for patients on beds in corridors costs £100,000 a month."

He added he was grateful for the support of MPs in the campaign to secure funding to improve patient care and working conditions.

The MP for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, said he had seen first hand the life-saving work of the team at Queen's and that the resources were "simply not there to meet ever-increasing demand".

"This initiative is crucial for ensuring that our community receives the highest standard of emergency care when we need it most," he said.

"I urge everyone from our region to join us in this campaign and show their support for this vital cause."

Both Julia Lopez, MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, and Margaret Mullane, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, have also shown support.

Ms Lopez said she had been pushing ministers to fund the redevelopment of Queen's A&E, while Ms Mullane said she had written to Mr Streeting to press the case for investment at the hospital.

When he visited the hospital last July, he told BBC London that although there were no quick fixes, the government was "determined that by the end of this parliament" NHS performance standards would "again conform to guidelines set out in the NHS constitution, including A&E waits of no more than four hours".

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