Royal Stoke University Hospital has been described as the worst-performing hospital in the West Midlands, and the third worst nationally, with only 16% of ambulance handovers between April and September 2026 meeting the 15-minute standard according to House of Commons Library research. The longest ambulance handover during this period took 17 hours and 41 minutes, with an average handover wait of 1 hour 33 minutes. Following the Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s August 2026 inspection, the hospital was instructed to close 15 corridor-care spaces.
This is far from a new issue, however, with NHS England taking enforcement action against University Hospitals North Midlands Trust (UHNM) back in September 2025. Due to concerns that the situation hasn’t improved, MP for Stoke South, Allison Gardner, raised the issue in Westminster Hall a couple of weeks ago, calling for an independent inquiry and direct ministerial intervention.
The Knot reached out to UHNM with a list of questions, including what steps are being taken to improve patient flow, capacity, and timely discharge, and what improvements the Trust expects to achieve over the next three to six months.
While it didn’t respond directly to our points, Dr Diane Adamson, UHNM chief medical officer, issued a statement regarding the delays. “We fully recognise the concern that ambulance handover delays cause for patients, their families, ambulance crews and our staff. Improving urgent and emergency care performance remains UHNM’s highest operational priority and while we understand calls for action, we are already working intensively with national NHS colleagues, local authority and our NHS community partners to deliver a comprehensive programme of improvement across the hospital and wider health and care system.
In the statement, Dr Adamson added that opening the Royal Stoke Urgent Treatment Centre, strengthening discharge arrangements, introducing additional emergency care workforce initiatives, and bringing forward additional winter capacity in response to sustained demand are also hoped to positively impact on handover delays.
