NHS in plea for bank holiday help as services are stretched

THE NHS in Derby and Derbyshire is bracing itself for a challenging autumn and is asking the public to help, beginning with the August bank holiday weekend as health services cope with unprecedented challenges.

The region’s two largest hospitals, Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Royal, are both close to capacity and facing heavy demand in A&E departments. GP practices are putting on more appointments than ever, and the NHS 111 system is extremely busy.

The NHS is seeing an increase in demand for services, coupled with an increase in staff absence through illness, self-isolation or leave. Patients are asked to self-care where this is a safe option or visit a pharmacy to ask for advice on minor concerns.

NHS 111 can provide quick advice if you cannot wait for a GP appointment and can also provide appointment slots for Urgent Treatment Centres and A&E if required for more serious concerns.

HELP HOSPITALS DISCHARGE LOVED ONES

It is important family members work with hospital and adult care staff by preparing for a relative returning from a stay in hospital or other care facility. This enables the hospitals to discharge patients smoothly and create space quickly for the next patient.

This will be particularly important heading into this weekend. We will need to discharge patients as soon as it is clinically safe to do so. This is to ensure we can use our hospital beds to care for the most poorly patients

HELP YOURSELF TO HELP THE NHS

It is important people ensure they get their repeat prescriptions in good time from their GP or pharmacist, to help avoid illness over the weekend.

People should consider self-care as the first option, using a local pharmacy for advice and basic medication. NHS 111 online is also great to help with symptom checking and advice.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Gavin Boyle said: “We have seen people thinking more about which services they need to access, which helps a lot, but we still need to reduce the number of people attending A&E or making GP appointments when they could use more appropriate services.

Pharmacy opening times across Derbyshire are available at https:// www.england.nhs.uk/midlands