HEALTH bosses have been accused of creating ‘confusion’ about A&E services as people face longer waits in emergencies.

At a health partnerships overview and scrutiny committee, held at Brent Town Hall on Tuesday, councillors grilled NHS bosses about the emergency services available in the borough.

Under current plans the A&E department at Central Middlsex Hospital, in Park Royal will be downgraded, but in a report presented to the committee, Tina Benson, acting director of operations at North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, said more emergencies would be sent to Central Middlesex instead of Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, to maximise capacity.

Patients are only taken to Central Middlesex during the day, but it is likely this will be extended during the night as well.

Central Middlesex’s 24-hour urgent care centre, which treats all but non-life threatening illnesses, will stay open, while the A&E, which is only open during the day, will close altogether under the Shaping a Healthier Future plans.

After the meeting, councillor Mary Daly, who chairs the committee, said: “It is extremely confusing. My understanding is that they would be accepting ambulances in the near future. Our concern is that if there is this level of confusion among the committee, how much confusion is there among the public?

“They are having to use Central Middlesex as Northwick Park is over-capacity and the danger is it will be used to prop up Northwick Park and won’t be used for local people. There is pressure on services now, so what will happen when the A&E at Central Middlesex closes permanently?”

The chairman said at the next meeting they would reconsider the decision not to refer the decision about the Shaping a Healthier Future plans to the secretary of state for health Jeremy Hunt.

The report presented to the committee said the number of patients visiting Northwick Park Hospital has increased by 10 per cent every year for the past three years.

The number of people with the most severe conditions calling an ambulance has increased by 15 patients a day over the past year.

Labour MP for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas, and other MPs for the area discussed the A&E issue in parliament recently. According to figures for NHS England in 2010/11, less than three per cent of people attending A&Es at North West London NHS Trust, which oversees Northwick Park, had to wait more than four hours before being seen.

This figure rose to 12.2 per cent in the financial year 2012/2013.