Dorset County Hospital prepares for winter pressures with Covid-19

Dorset County Hospital insists it's prepared for the 'triple whammy' winter period trusts across the country are facing.

Experts are warning that winter flu, COVID-19 and a large backlog of cases caused by lockdown could put added strain on the NHS over the next few months.

But, Dorset County Hospital bosses say they've introduced a number of measures that means the county is well prepared.

Alastair Hutchinson is the Medical Director of the Trust.

He said:

"March, April and May were a very frightening time for everyone across the country, but also very much so for NHS staff and of course sadly a number of NHS staff didn't survive it.

"But, this time around I think we have a much better idea of what we're trying to fight with much better resources than we had last time around.

"I think it will still be difficult, and there will still be problems and people will lose their lives unfortunately.

"But I think we'll have a much better idea, and we'll be much better prepared this time around."

The hospital's introduced a number of measures to ramp up it's preparations for the winter season, which is fast approaching.

Firstly, the hospital's capacity has been expanded with a new temporary build outside the emergency department where incoming patients can be triaged.

The hospital say this will stop everyone being sent straight to the Emergency Department and prevent mixing.

Inside of the Emergency Department, there are 3 new resuscitation bays, and the Intensive Care Unit has doubled the number of 'major bays' used for treating the most severely ill patients.

The ICU has also increased it's number of beds by 40%.

But, one of the biggest issues facing the hospital is staffing levels, which can drop during the winter as doctors and nurses take time off ill due to influenza.

DCH has taken on more staff to man the additional beds in the ICU, but during the pandemic they've also been training staff so they can be quickly moved over to other wards they're not used to working in.

That means if there are problems with staff absences, they'll be quickly resolved.

Finally, PPE was a major concern earlier this year for NHS staff.

But, that's changed. By the end of November, it's predicted that England will have a stockpile of 4 months worth of PPE available to be distributed.

At the start of the pandemic only 1% of PPE was made domestically, but in the next two months it's expected 70% will be made here.

'How can I help?'

Mr Hutchinson says the best way for us to help ease pressure on the NHS this winter is by making sure you get your flu jab.

He said:

"I'm very proud of the fact that Dorset County last year had the best rate of influenza vaccination in all of the hospitals in the South West.

"That meant that staff absences due to influenza were significantly reduced last year, and we're hoping to do exactly the same this year.

"I would encourage everybody to enquire about the possibility of having the influenza vaccination themselves, because that will make a huge difference.

"We don't know what the interaction between influenza and COVID will be, but you can only imagine the two things would make each other worse."

• dorset county hospital