A significantly high number of very poorly patients admitted to hospital and ongoing difficulties in discharging patients has resulted in the need to postpone some inpatient surgery at St Mary’s Hospital.
In the last week (Wednesday 14th to Tuesday 20th June) 1,408 people have phoned NHS 111, a 13% increase on the same week in 2016. 952 people have attended the Emergency Department in the last week, an 18% increase on the same week last year. There were 234 emergency admissions during the last week, a 4·5% on the same week last year.
Hospital staff are working hard to create capacity to care for patients who need immediate care which has resulted in a small number of procedures having to be cancelled.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust has said:
“We apologise to every patient whose surgery we have had to postpone. Disrupting planned procedures is an absolute last resort. All patients who are affected by these postponements have been advised and will be rescheduled as soon as possible”.
Nikki Turner, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Isle of Wight NHS Trust, said:
“The hospital is incredibly busy and we are finding it difficult to maintain business as usual as we have limited bed capacity in the hospital and in the community to accommodate the volume of patients requiring care.
“We also have a number of individuals who are medically stable but who cannot move out of the hospital for a number of reasons and we are continuing to work with the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the local authority’s social service teams and the Island’s nursing and residential care homes to ensure those ready to leave hospital can be found appropriate placements.
Article continues below this advertisement “We ask for families to work with us and support us in any way they can to be able to discharge those relatives who are ready to leave hospital. Nobody wants to be in hospital any longer than necessary, especially in this heat.”
The Level 3 heatwave alert issued by the Met Office on Monday remains in place and vulnerable groups are at risk in hot spells. Anyone with an ongoing health condition should take care as heat can make some conditions worse. It is important for people to take precautions to ensure they keep out of the sun, wear sun cream, drink plenty of water to keep hydrated, avoid any strenuous activity and check on older people or neighbours, family or friends, make sure they are keeping themselves cool.
If you think you need help you should phone NHS 111 first and they may be able to offer you alternative treatment options like seeing your GP or a pharmacist. Information on self care can be found on the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk/selfcare and www.what0-18.nhs.uk, a website for parents of children aged 0-18yrs.
