The Isle of Wight’s only hospital is bracing itself, not only for increased seasonal pressures but also an expected surge in Omicron patients.
Nationally, NHS officials are predicting a peak of COVID-positive patients being admitted to hospital in the next week and have devised ‘Operation Reset’ to make space in full-up hospitals.
The organisation has asked hospitals in the South East to clear out ‘bedblockers’ — the term used for a person ready to be discharged but who has nowhere to go outside of hospital and is occupying a sought-after bed.
At St Mary’s, 62 patients were medically fit to leave hospital on Thursday but had no care in place to be safely discharged, causing congestion on the wards.
The Isle of Wight NHS Trust, working in partnership with the Isle of Wight Council, is being told to move up to 50% of the so-called ‘bedblockers’ by the end of January. The adult social care crisis on the Island, however, has left top health bosses across the partnership concerned it cannot be achieved.
Speaking at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust board meeting on Thursday, chief operating officer Joe Smyth said he could not see how 27 patients, on average, could be moved out of hospital by the end of the month unless additional care capacity is created.
Mr Smyth said ‘bedblockers’ are taking up to 30% of the hospital’s beds, which has led to the cancellation of elective surgery and an increased wait time for patients in A&E. He apologised to those patients who had had their procedures cancelled last week and hoped to restore the programme of surgery by Monday.
Mr Smyth said he is anxious the biggest risk is yet to come, amid winter pressures and as the number of medically fit patients waiting to be discharged rises.
Darren Cattell, the trust’s new chief executive, said the hospital is taking its next steps with a degree of uncertainty, but the trust is “well prepared for whatever may be thrown at it”.
When asked about ‘Operation Reset’, the Isle of Wight Council said it was to ensure it has effective, robust systems and processes in place to meet current demand. Social care capacity is stretched to its limit, according to portfolio lead for the authority, Councillor Karl Love, cabinet member for adult social care.
Cllr Love recently accused the government of “completely failing to deliver on its promises” and said the Island has not yet ‘seen a penny’ from the £5.4 billion announced to transform adult social care in the next 3 years. He said the authority has been asking the government for help for many months but it is “not listening, or taking any action.”
Very poor, that people who need medical intervention. Are denied treatment through bed blockers.
A national problem.
Yep, l don’t blame adult social care tho,
I blame the relatives of the bed blockers who don’t step up and neglect there duty of care to there own elderly parents. They take early retirement and are mainly made up of lazy baby boomers and expect the state and tax payers to do there job for them, whilst they are busy going to the tip with there one bag of grass cuttings and enjoying a nice light lunch at the garden centres before playing golf.
Open your eyes and look around.
And it is this generation who do all the moaning ! How ironic.
( Thumbs down oldy’s )
anyone could take them in they are all fit..what about you .Dr NO…4 will do then 2 more when you move in to the shed ..u very kind person u may not be..or will u prove me wrong..go 4 it .pd.
One word for you, IGNORANT parasite…..
Are you for real? How are they supposed to look after elderly relatives if they have no room, work full time, can’t afford to or live on the mainland!
what a narrow view you have.
being called bed blocker ..when no fault of their own.i expect they really love that scummy unwanted word,s..
These people are stuck there for what ever reason, none of which are any thing to do with them and t
In the last couple of decades this health authority has deliberately closed over 400 elderly care beds and closed 4 hospitals, we are now reaping their managements incompetence.
Why call them bed blocker’s how bloody disrespectful
They don’t want to be there I’m sure all part of this nasty little catch phrase society we now live in
thank,s..well said..FOSS.
.pd
they managed to create additional capacity back in 2020.
it’s just not acceptable to keep cancelling operations.
get the military in like other places are.
it is to do with adult social care..the clue is in the name..pd
No it is not ! It is to do with to many relatives expecting local government to do there job for them !
My wife is a community care worker, and she works with these people on a daily basis. And her opinion is that 50% of the families involved are lazy, selfish, spoilt little rich kids who have taken early retirement who feel entitled to demand anything that won’t interfere with there bridge nights.
Have you been to alvestone garden village recently ?
Well said
.sir
And many other families are not as you describe! You have a very narrow and opinionated view.
Strange….seems accommodation and the welfare of drug addicts is easily found on the island…maybe the allocation of finance needs looking at?
people don’t want to be carers – crap job, crap money
government sacked loads of carers, who do want the job – because they won’t be injected with a concoction of chemicals, that does not prevent transmission or getting covid.
unfettered house building is also a cause of this – more people, more demand on the system.
Government didn’t sack them, but because of legislation their employers did
Same thing
who decides the legislation – government – therefore sacked by the government
So where are these people meant to go, I’ve an idea, how about the Council offices in Newport itself, a building half used but heated to a minimum of 24 degrees in every office, talk about wasting money. Oh before you ask I used to work there
These people need to go and live with there families. And (oh before you ask) who cares where you used to work !
I certainly don’t.
There are plenty of empty hotels. Why not use one of these with qualified medical staff as the next step in finding a home for these unfortunate patients with nowhere else to go. We use to have cottage hospitals for this but someone deemed they were not needed anymore.
This will always be a problem because for many there is no place to go. We are in need of care homes that housing benefit will pay for the persons stay if really poor, certainly doubt any of them could afford a new so called ‘ Affordable ‘ housing.. ( whatever that means ) Camp Hill, would make a lovely huge care home if council put brains before ££££ in their pockets.. Hampshire get all the Government money and send none to this Island. Shame we cannot leave Hampshire.. be our own county…
Thousands of illegal and economic migrants crossing the Channel from a no-war zone are put into posh hotels with money in their pockets, but nothing offered to our frail elderly….its a bloody disgusting way to treat people that have paid in all their lives…
I’m not expected to have my knee replaced nearly 3 years I can’t even get a place in a hospital on the mainland im on cancellation list its been nearly 6months now and I haven’t even had a date it’s pathetic get the accountants and pen pushers out and bring the army in for God’s sake
We used to have Frank James but due to greed the NHS has been shot in the arse you deserve you get as sensible people saw so and she will reep bloody idiots the lot of them
Please, Island Echo, get a grip on the Comments section. Do some moderation or you’ll go the same way as CP where only the trolls and those who persist in petty arguments bother commenting anymore.