GPs warned: Don’t send any patients to swamped A&E unit
PATIENTS have been diverted from an accident and emergency unit after it became so full a major alert was reportedly issued.
Bosses closed the doors to new admissions from GP surgeries, in the latest crisis to hit Scotland’s NHS.
Whistleblowers have alleged a ‘code black’ warning – said to be the most severe status level – was raised at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.
On Tuesday last week, more than 200 patients turned up at A&E, more than 60 waited longer than four hours to be seen and around 20 members of staff were off.
Members of the public arriving at the unit were not turned away but Hairmyres bosses told GPs to send emergency cases to other hospitals in the area.
A whistleblower said: ‘I have never seen things so stretched. A lot of people who would have previously gone to other hospitals are now coming here. We have been colour code black for a while, which is the worst colour.’
The number of patients going to the A&E unit soared from 57,274 in 2014-15, to 63,551 in 2016-17.
Two years ago, neighbouring NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde moved the old Victoria Infirmary’s A&E to the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in the southwest of the city.
It was pointed out at the time that some people who would previously have gone to the Victoria in south-east Glasgow would instead use the closer Hairmyres.
Papers published by NHS Lanarkshire last month warned: ‘The Glasgow reconfiguration from 2015 is continuing to have an impact.’
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘The changes have clearly had a hardhitting impact on neighbouring health boards. The SNP has some tricky questions to answer on this.’
Scottish Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar said: ‘When staff tell you they have never seen things so stretched, it must force a swift response from the SNP.’ Last night, NHS Lanarkshire admitted it had diverted patients after an ‘exceptionally high’ number arrived at A&E but said ‘code black’ is not a term used by the NHS in Scotland. Patients were diverted to NHS Lanarkvery shire’s Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, and Wishaw General.
Joanne Edwards, director of services at Hairmyres, said: ‘We work as a clinical network to divert GP pre-assessed patients directly to another NHS Lanarkshire hospital where clinically appropriate to do so. Our emergency department is fully staffed. We invested in an expansion [of A&E] prior to the Victoria Infirmary closure.’
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘We work closely with NHS Lanarkshire to monitor patient flows to ensure they are within anticipated capacity.’
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘We place the highest priority on patients receiving the right care, when they need it, and have provided record investment to achieve long-term improvements to Scotland’s A&E departments.’