Health One in, one out as city hospital under huge pressure

SOUTHMEAD Hospital has ambulances queueing to offload seriously ill patients as staff have “never been so busy”.

Due to a rise in patients, the Bristol hospital has to operate a one in, one out system as some patients are ready for discharge, but need help from loved ones or the community to get home.

This comes after staff at Southmead Hospital told BBC West that they have “never been so busy”, warning that patients may be put at extra risk due to the lack of beds and increasing Covid admissions.

In a statement, North Bristol NHS medical director Tim Whittlestone described the hospital as “very busy” due to “increasing numbers of Covid patients”.

He added that the hospital has “ambulances waiting to offload seriously ill patients”, but cannot do so due to a shortage of beds.

In addition, Mr Whittlestone said that the hospital has “an increasing number” of patients who are ready for discharge but need loved ones or the community to help them home safely.

He said that this, in addition to the weight of patients at the moment, causes the hospital to operate a “one in one out system”.

A quarter of the beds in Southmead Hospital are filled with people deemed medically fit for discharge, but cannot leave because they do not have help or an appropriate place to go, according to BBC West.

Mr Whittlestone appealed to patients to be “absolutely sure” that they need hospital treatment before accessing their services, saying that other services such as a GP, 111, or urgent care centres could be more appropriate.

The full statement from Mr Whittlestone reads: “We are a very busy hospital at the moment, we are seeing increasing numbers of Covid patients, we have ambulances waiting to offload seriously ill patients and we have an increasing number of people who are medically fit for discharge but are waiting for loved ones to help them home or for a package of care in the community.

“When we can’t discharge patients it means we have to oper

We have ambulances waiting to offload seriously ill patients ... we have people who are medically fit for discharge but are waiting for loved ones to help them home Tim Whittlestone

ate a one in, one out system at our front door, so we really want to encourage friends and family to do everything possible to ensure people are not staying a single extra night in hospital that they don’t need to. This could be making sure their lights are working, their heating’s on and food is available.

“We also ask people to be absolutely sure they need to use our emergency service and consider 111, GP, urgent treatment centres or pharmacist.”