Five tips to try and ease winter hospital pressure

ALMOST a quarter of A&E patients were left waiting more than four hours to be seen at Macclesfield Hospital as this year’s winter pressure began.

In the latest figures published by East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, 76.9 per cent of A&E patients were seen to within the national target of four hours in October.

It was the toughest month for delays at Macclesfield’s A&E since March, when 72.1 per cent of patients were seen within four hours.

Kath Senior, director of nursing, performance and quality at the trust, said: “October’s reduction in performance reflects increased operational pressures associated with emergency medical admissions and high levels of bed occupancy.

“We have been working hard to address this challenge and have developed a number of internal initiatives with our partners to improve patient flow and support timely discharge from hospital beds. This is essential for winter planning purposes.

“We recently launched a new initiative - Helping Flow - which highlights how patients and members of the public can help us achieve this.”

At last month’s board of directors meeting, the trust confirmed that six patients were left waiting at Macclesfield’s A&E for more than 12 hours in just one week as winter pressures began to bite.

However, the hospital’s A&E is still the secondbest performing for waiting times across Cheshire and Merseyside - with 84.61 per cent of patients being seen within four hours so far in 2018-19.

As part of its Helping Flow campaign, the trust is pushing five tips for keeping its hospitals running smoothly this winter:

DON’T assume relatives will be admitted to hospital if referred for an urgent assessment, they can be discharged afterwards

COLLECT relatives or friends as soon as they are ready to be discharged

ENSURE relatives have the right footwear, clothes and belongings for admission to prevent falls and keep patients active

CONSIDER ongoing care after leaving hospital might not be close to home - patients who turn ongoing care down can block a bed

MAKE sure all arrangements are in place for discharges - make the hospital aware of any potential transport issues

East Cheshire NHS Trust has produced a video explaining how the public can help the health service run smoothly this winter, visit eastcheshire. nhs.uk.