Snapshot reveals A&E pressures
46 PATIENTS WERE BOOKED INTO HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT EVERY HOUR
ONE day at the end of June saw 46 people booked into A&E every hour at the RVI, chief executive Dame Jackie Daniel has revealed.
The hospital boss – in charge of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the RVI as well as the Freeman and a number of community services – revealed how urgent and emergency care was once again under serious pressure in the city, with a rise in Covid adding to the strain.
Dame Jackie said the week ending July 3 had seen almost 3,000 people attend A&E. Writing in her online blog, Dame Jackie said the health service had seen a “very challenging few weeks” and her teams had been “seeing more people who are very unwell”.
The NHS boss added: “The reasons for this are not fully understood.”
According to Dame Jackie, the week to July 3 saw 2,976 attendances at the RVI’s A&E.
That’s the highest seen in six weeks. If urgent treatment centres were included, there were more than 5,000 people who sought care.
For children’s A&E alone, attendance hit its second highest level this year as 874 kids were brought to hospital for emergency care.
Dame Jackie focused on Monday June 27 – one of the worst affected days.
She added: “To give you a snapshot of the pressures, on Monday, June 27, we were booking in 46 people per hour and saw 868 patients – at one point in time we had 166 patients waiting in the department.
“These higher levels of acuity, increasing Covid-19 numbers (although this is now showing some signs of decline) – and the associated challenges that brings, such as staffrelated sickness, higher rates of bed occupancy and discharging patients, have all had an impact on our services.”
The hospital boss also spoke of how the trust was bringing down waiting lists. She said there were now just 42 patients who had been waiting over two years for surgery. This has halved since May and most of those waiting are understood to be complex spinal cases.