DCH waitlists hampered by pressure on A&E and isolating staff
DCH bosses say A&E pressure is worse than one of their worst winter periods.
Dorset County Hospital bosses say surgery waitlists are being hampered by increased demand in the emergency room, and self-isolating staff.
There are currently around 6,300 Dorset County Hospital patients waiting for surgery at there. Poole Hospital also has 1,500 patients also waiting for surgery at DCH.
But, this summer has placed the A&E department under incredibly high demand, limiting the number of beds available for surgery.
Doctors and nurses are still required to self-isolate despite being double-jabbed, meaning there's extra pressure from staff shortages.
Alastair Hutchison is the Chief Medical Officer at DCH. He told Greatest Hits Radio what they're doing to reduce demand.
"We've got weekend operating lists on a continuous basis, we've got evening waiting lists for some people and we're trying to make use of every bit of space we can possibly have.
"One of the difficulties that we have at the moment is that the number of people coming through as emergencies through the A&E department is as high, and possibly even higher than it has ever been before, even in the depths of a winter. So, a lot of our beds are being used up by those patients and then we find ourselves in the situation of sometimes having to cancel operating lists at short notice."
The problem is the same across England, Alastair adds. But COVID is only having a small impact. There are only three patients being treated at Dorset County Hospital, one of them is in intensive care.
The pandemic still poses a problem with community cases still high, meaning staff who come into contact with the virus have to self-isolate. That's despite new rules that allow people with two jabs to skip self-isolating.
Alastair said:
"We are seeing people who've been double vaccinated and are still getting COVID again.
"But fortunately it seems to be the case that you don't get it seriously, and it feels more like a bad cold, rather than the life-threatening illness that it has been in the past."
To help ease the pressure, the hospital is urging people to only present at the Emergency Department in really serious, urgent circumstances. In other cases, they're asking us to first try NHS 111 who might be able to find somewhere better to treat you without the long wait in an A&E queue.