A&E staff under pressure as patient numbers soar

Emergency department dealing with high-volume of patients

UNDER pressure accident and emergency staff at Nuneaton’s hospital are having to deal with 230 people A DAY when the department is only built for 160 patients.

With the worst of winter yet to hit, bosses at George Eliot Hospital’s A&E department are preparing for the situation to get worse.

The situation was revealed at a hospital board meeting on Tuesday.

Debbie Pook, director of operations at the Eliot, said: “We are not performing where we are meant to be. We have done some bed modelling exercises, we have a bed gap of approximately 50 beds currently.

“In January and February that is likely to get worse. Our average attendance is 230 per day, we are built for 160 so that is causing is quite an issue.”

Latest statistics show that, for more than a year now, the hospital’s A&E department has missed its four hour waiting time target.

Such is the concern that Glen Burley, the hospital’s chief executive, said he is now having to answer to national medical bosses about how they plan to turn the situation around.

“I have got a call with the national A&E lead, they are doing calls to all providers who aren’t meeting their targets. It is important that we demonstrate that we have a better state of readiness,” he said.

Debbie Pook listed all of the plans they have in place to prepare for the onslaught of winter and the predicted deluge in demand.

“We are undertaking rapid assessment and treating in ED (Emer- gency Department), so we have those trolley spaces in place, there are five of those which initiate treatment in the first hour,” she explained.

She went on to add they now have access to mental health services at the weekend, via the Arden Mental Health Acute Team (AMHAT), which has not been available before.

“We have, from December 1, 24 hour AMHAT service available at the weekends, up until this week that service was not available at the weekends at that level, and that can cause quite a lot of issues,” she said.

“From January we will have an additional five beds in AMU (Acute Medical Unit), we are putting criteria-led discharge in place at the weekend.”

She said that they will also ensure beds are available for surgery so that it can continue throughout the winter, which will help with much-needed income into the hospital.

Glen Burley concluded: “Yes, it is a challenge in terms of bed numbers but the best way to solve it is not through beds, it is to improve flow through the hospital.”

The hospital is also utilising a new Rapid Assessment and Treatment area following its £1million upgrade.