West Midlands NHS services announce winter plan for peak demand
There are 64,000 more primary care appointments than in 2019
Birmingham and Black Country NHS services have announced their plans to meet the pressures and demand over winter.
Health bosses say the NHS across the West Midlands has a backlog of services, and are warning of an unprecedented Christmas period.
With the added pressure of the pandemic, patients are arriving to hospitals and GP surgeries more ill than normal due to their conditions not being dealt with sooner.
Dr Rajiv Kalia, Deputy Medical Director at Black Country and West Birmingham CCG, says this is due to a massive increase in appointments, and that he understands patient concerns over GP appointments:
“We as GPs have every sympathy with patients struggling to get access to primary care. Comparative to September 2019, there’s 64,000 more appointments in primary care compared to pre-pandemic."
Health services in Wolverhampton, Sandwell and West Birmingham want to strengthen rapid response services to take pressure off the NHS, but there are staffing shortfalls.
With the West Midlands Ambulance Service being at the highest alert level, Mark Doherty, Regional Operations Director, says they are calling in help:
“We’re taking on hundreds of additional staff to cover our region. They’ll be a combination of student paramedics, trained paramedics and also large numbers of call handlers.
"We’re also increasing our vehicle fleet to make sure that we’re maxed out for the winter period."
Changing visiting rules and increasing mental health support
With there set to be an increase in the demand for NHS services over the colder months, there have been some positive developments in West Midlands' health trusts.
Patients at hospitals across the Black Country may soon be able to have visitors, with the rules looking set to change.
Visiting was discouraged over the past 18 months due to Covid-19, but Richard Beeken, CEO of Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, says staff have come together to make it happen:
"The directors of nursing in each trust now are working together on relaxing visiting rules, and so there will be some changes literally over the next few days and weeks to visiting rules in all of the trusts across the Black Country and the West Birmingham system."
Chris Masikane, Chief Operating Officer at the Black Country Healthcare NHS Trust, says a service has also been set up for anyone needing mental health support:
“We’ve now established a 24 hour helpline that operates seven days a week. There’s a free phone number.
"It’s available for all ages, so when you have a mental health issue or crisis you can contact this line.
"You’ll be given advice and support, and if we can’t help at that point you’ll be directed to services that can support you during that period."