Staff and volunteers across the Isle of Wight’s health and care system are said to be responding ‘magnificently’ to the pressures the Island is currently facing, but one of the worse strains of flu the Island has seen for many years is on the way.
Islanders cannot have missed the national media reports about the pressures faced by the NHS over the last 10 days. On the Island, planned flexible response to surges in activity has been working well, according to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
The Isle of Wight Council’s Adult Social Care team have provided additional social work staff at St Mary’s Hospital to facilitate discharges as well as increased capacity in their outreach teams. Support services like ‘Living Well’ and ‘Support at Home’ provided by Age UKIW and the British Red Cross are also said to be making a real difference.
Meanwhile GPs have been treating and undertaking home visits to more people so that people can get the help they need at home. Practices have extended their opening hours and have made additional home visits where that is necessary.
Many residential and nursing care homes and domiciliary agencies across the Island have responded flexibly to the need to work quickly to assess and place individuals in their care.
Dr Barbara Stuttle CBE, Chief Nurse at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said:
“St. Mary’s has been experiencing higher than normal levels of patients with medical issues, in particular respiratory problems. We have a flexible plan for responding to surges in activity.
“Patients will have heard in the national media that the NHS is cancelling appointments in order to cope with this emergency pressure. We will communicate with patients as soon as possible if their planned operation needs to be cancelled. However, unless we contact you, patients with planned operations and appointments should attend as normal.
Article continues below this advertisement “We recognise that cancelling operations is a disappointment and disruptive and I would like to apologise to anyone who has had their operation cancelled.
“I would like to once again thank our local community for continuing their use of alternative options for urgent health care, to other services for their support to enable Islanders to be cared for outside hospital and also our staff and volunteers, throughout our ambulance, community, hospital and mental health services, who continue to work incredibly hard to provide safe patient care.”
With more cold weather and one of the worse strains of flu seen for many years on the way, Islanders are being urged to take action. It’s not too late to get a flu jab, which are still available from GP surgeries and pharmacies.
What can Islanders do to support?
Flu is on the increase
In the 7 days to 28th December, 34 new acute respiratory outbreaks were reported across England and the rate of consultation rose from 11.4 per 100,000 people to 18.9 per 100,000 people. In that same week there were 61 new admissions to Intensive Care and 66 new hospitalisations with confirmed flu.
The flu jab is available from your GP or local pharmacies. If you’re not entitled to a free vaccination then the flu jab can be obtained for a small fee at pharmacies.
Pharmacies are an important first point of call
Use the pharmacy as the first point of call for advice and over the counter remedies, especially for those people who are beginning to feel unwell with a cold or flu type symptoms. The spread of coughs and colds can be minimised by simple actions to shield the mouth and nose, dispose of tissues immediately after use and wash hands frequently.
Calling 111 is often a quicker and more convenient
Calling 111 is a way of obtaining a clinical assessment and advice in non-emergencies and allows staff in the Emergency Department to focus on the sickest patients. The Royal College of GPs has already set out 3 basic steps that all patients should consider before seeking an appointment with their GP for an acute illness including self-care, using online guidance from NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk) and consulting with a pharmacist.
