NUH critical incident leads to operations being cancelled
It was declared on Tuesday.
We're hearing a lack of social care support in Nottingham has contributed towards 2 of the city's hospitals declaring a 'Critical incident'.
More than 200 patients are fit to be discharged at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and City Hospitals, but can't leave because of poor community support.
It means some operations where patients require a stay in hospital will be postponed to prioritise patients with the most urgent need.
The critical incident at Nottingham’s hospitals was declared on Tuesday (27 SEPT).
Chief Executive Anthony May said:
“I was involved in the decision to declare the incident and I took advice from colleagues.
“The reason for that is pressures across the trust were affecting our ability to provide an effective emergency pathway.
“Everybody in the trust is now focused on trying to alleviate those pressures.
“I would like to apologise to the small number of patients whose procedures we have cancelled and to anybody who has suffered delays in any other part of our hospitals.
“We are working tirelessly, literally day and night to try and make this better.
“I would like to thank the staff who have worked extremely hard and I would like to pay tribute to our partners.”
Chair of the Trust's board Nick Carver said:
“During the last week we have had 213 patients medically fit for discharge who do not need to be in this hospital.
“The system target is 64. That’s fundamental to claw back on elective planned activity.
“The pressure on staff in the emergency department is not due to an increase in demand, it is due to a flow problem.
“There are 150 more patients beyond the system plan in this organisation at this moment in time.
“Our staff are doing their utmost to make sure we don’t have that awful situation where an ambulance cannot be mobilised to someone in need. That for me is the worst of all situations.”
In a statement, NUH added: “We are extremely sorry we have had to take this step.
“We are working extremely hard to ensure our patients are kept safe but there are ways that you can help.
“Our teams are working exceptionally hard, and we would like to reassure our patients and the public that despite the challenges faced, essential services remain fully open for anyone who needs them so if someone requires urgent medical help, they should continue to come forward.”