Operations and clinics cancelled at Hull Royal Infirmary
It's as the hospital runs out of beds.
Operations and clinics are having to be cancelled at Hull Royal Infirmary and Cottingham's Castle Hill Hospital this week due to a shortage of beds.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is currently running at full capacity with 99% of beds occupied.
Its as the hospitals deal with an increase in the amount of seriously ill patients admitted through the department.
The hospital trust is urging patients not to come to A&E unless it's a genuine emergency and is appealing to the public to use local minor injuries units, visit their GP or pharmacist or call NHS 111 for telephone advice.
Kevin Phillips is Chief Medical Officer for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and told Viking:
“Hospitals regularly come under pressure at this time of year, and we do have plans in place to deal with these, but over the last week we have seen a volume of patients been admitted in to our hospitals which is over and above what we would predict for this time of year.
“Many of these are very poorly people who are then being admitted to hospital, but there are still some which could be treated elsewhere.
“We are urging people to exercise common sense and to look at alternative treatment options unless they are seriously ill or a person’s condition is considered life-threatening. This will allow us to concentrate our efforts on the very poorly people who are within our hospitals at the moment.
“The decision to postpone any operation or clinic is not one we take lightly as we are mindful of the impact this can have on a patient and their family. However, to ensure those who require more urgent care needs, we are going to have to postpone some routine elective operations and clinics. Those who are affected will be contacted directly and reappointed at a later date.
“We are continuing to work extremely hard with our partners who are playing a huge part in creating additional capacity in the community to allow us to safely discharge those patients who are medically fit to leave our hospitals.”