Shropshire opens NHS 'winter war room' to help manage demand
42 "traffic control centres" have been set up across the country.
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin has launched a seven-day control centre to manage demand and capacity across health and social care services.
It's one of a network of 42 control centres across England, which will use data such as A&E performance, waiting times, staff levels, ambulance response times and bed occupancy with the aim of managing demand during one of the toughest ever winters.
Based at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, the Winter Control Room will help Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System respond quickly to challenges as they emerge, understand where the pressures are and allowing them to work with partners to better manage demand and capacity.
Sam Tilley, Director of Urgent & Emergency Care and Emergency Planning for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said: “For the last couple of years, since the Covid pandemic, we have been experiencing pressures on services across the whole health and social care system.
"These pressures can strike different parts of the system at different times or in tandem. This could be demand for ambulances, increases in people walking into A&E, demand for care home beds, or for primary care appointments.
“This new control centre is a positive step forward and will allow staff to see “real time” data from across health and social care enabling us to see where ambulance queues are building up, waiting times are increasing, bed occupancy is challenged for instance, and to work together across the system in a joined-up way to address these issues quickly.”
It comes as data from the NHS showed hundreds of hospital beds are being taken up by patients with flu; more than 10 times the number seen at the beginning of December last year.
Statistics also showed more than 19 in 20 adult general and acute beds were occupied in the week to 20 November, with over 13,000 beds a day taken up by patients medically fit for discharge.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “These locally delivered control centres are just one part of our wide-ranging preparations for winter but will play a vital role in the sharing and use of vital information to drive smarter decision-making by local NHS teams.
“Less than six weeks after we issued our national guidance, we have teams across England working around the clock monitoring and responding to information and insights from frontline services to help spread resources and make the best possible decisions for both staff and patients.
“With recent data hitting home the significant pressure staff are facing – with 10 times more flu cases in hospital than we saw going into winter last year, and thousands of beds taken up by patients medically fit for discharge – it has never been more important for the NHS to introduce these important and innovative planning measures ahead of what is likely to be one of our most challenging winters yet.
“The public can play its part by using NHS services in the usual way: dialling 999 in an emergency and using 111 online for other health conditions; and vaccines remain an important protection against serious illness, so please come forward if you’re eligible.”