City hospitals are ‘full’ as demand continues to rise
NOTTINGHAM hospitals have said they are “full” as Covid, emergency attendances and an inability to discharge medically safe patients increases pressures on bed capacity.
Rupert Egginton, acting chief executive at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Trust, said that this winter was looking “like the most challenging period the NHS has ever faced”.
The comments come after the trust triggered Opel 4 – the highest alert level – on November 1.
“It’s going to be really really challenging – we’re at our highest level alert and the hospital is full,” Mr Egginton told the Post.
He said that 150 people were currently waiting to be discharged from hospital but could not leave due to a lack of social and community care packages.
“One of the greatest challenges is trying to discharge patients to their normal place of residence as soon as they’re medically able to,” he said.
The chief executive also highlighted the ongoing effects of the pandemic, with 109 Covid patients occupying beds as of yesterday.
Over a third of critical beds – 15 out of 44 – are also currently being used by Covid patients.
“We have also had to take precautions and spread our beds out so we’ve got fewer beds than we’d normally have,” he added.
“Over all of that we’ve built up very long waiting lists as a result of the pandemic.”
Admissions to the emergency department have also seen an upsurge, with emergency admissions between April and October this year increasing by 15 percent on last year. Emergency attendances meanwhile have grown by 25 percent. “The number of people turning up to our emergency department are really high,” said Mr Egginton. “They’re already as high as they’d be through the winter and so that puts great pressure on our bed stock and our wards.”
It’s going to be really challenging. We’re at our highest level alert and the hosptial is full
Rupert Egginton