330 patients visiting A&E at QA every day
Hospital staff ‘extremely busy’ as just under half arrive by ambulance
HOSPITAL bosses have warned A&E is seeing 330 people arrive every day – with just under half of those coming by ambulance.
Staff at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham have warned, in an update to Portsmouth councillors, that they are ‘extremely busy’.
The Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust update said: ‘This is an extremely busy period for the organisation across all our services.
‘We continue to see an increasing number of patients than usual attending our emergency department and regularly care for an average of 330 patients a day with just under half of those arriving by ambulance.
‘This non-elective demand continues to increase and is also being seen across many other areas of the country.
‘Maintaining safe and effective services whilst under severe pressure from increasing non-elective demand remains a priority, alongside continuing our focus on the health and wellbeing of our colleagues across PHU.
‘As a result of the significant and sustained increase in patients attending the emergency department at QA, we continue to encourage patients to make the right decision in terms of where they attend to receive treatment or support, in order to aid social distancing in the ED.’
Mark Orchard, chief financial officer, and Dr John Knighton, medical director, will answer questions from councillors at next week’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel. As reported in August, the hospital has been on black alert over pressures.
Leaders are urging people to contact NHS 111 in the first instance, unless they are suffering in a life-threatening condition.
The high pressure on the A&E is also making it difficult to clear the backlog in elective treatments required by patients. The report added it would take a ‘considerable amount of time to fully recover to pre-pandemic waiting times’.
It said: ‘We are assessing patients’ clinical needs to ensure those requiring the most urgent care, including cancer services, receive it as quickly and safely as possible.
‘We continue encouraging people to contact their GP practice with any concerns around their health.’