An urgent plea has been issued to the local community amid significant pressures on all NHS services on the Isle of Wight and in Hampshire.
Dedicated health and care teams continue to do all they can to ensure patients receive safe, high-quality care – but they need help amid sustained pressures across the board.
The plea comes after figures that show that there were more than 38,000 urgent appointments or attendances with GP practices, urgent treatment centres, minor injuries units and emergency departments across Hampshire and The Isle of Wight in the last week alone – an average of 1 every 2 seconds.
The current influx in Group A strep cases means that these figures are likely to be much higher in reality.
Dr Derek Sandeman, Chief Medical Officer at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, said:
“Winter is always a challenging time of year for our population and also the NHS. You will have heard on the news that this winter feels the most difficult the NHS has faced and that is the experience of colleagues working in our system.
“I want to publicly thank them for stepping up to try and meet the demands which at times have felt overwhelming. I also know that this can make it hard for you to find the care you need and are being asked to wait longer than any of us would like. I’m sorry for the added frustration this is causing.”
For information on what to do if you need help, click here.






























































































The plea comes after figures that show that there were more than 38,000 urgent appointments or attendances with GP practices, urgent treatment centres, minor injuries units and emergency departments across Hampshire and The Isle of Wight in the last week alone.
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chances are that half of them were time wasters, hypochondriacs, benefit claimants getting their next sick note, layabouts getting a sick note, junkies getting another methodone prescription, panic merchants rushing to a and e, with a broken fingernail and the usual whiny, attention seekers that cannot cope on their own and turn up at the hospital pretending they have something wrong.
That is a mean comment. I recently went to Respiratory at St. Mary’s to pick up some paperwork. It was full of elderly people wheezing and looking miserable. The nurses were running their feet off but were kind and patient with everyone. They said it was one of the worst seasons for respiratory diseases they had encountered.
Mean in your opinion – truth does often hurt though
It, obviously, doesn’t hurt you as you, under your various pseudonyms, keep spouting the same lies.
What Merry F is saying is the truth, and anyone who has ever spent any time at the hospital will know it. The biggest pressure on the NHS, by a large margin, is the care of the elderly and the inability to discharge them due to a lack of care home places. All due to Government cuts.
Spot on unfortunately some have very biast opinion and a problem with people on benefits and that they r scumbags in every way even NHS just unnecessary by someone uneducated in today’s world don’t tar all with same brush
and a problem with people on benefits
correct – they should be supporting theirselves – not sponging off the rest of us
Or jab recipients..
The plea comes after figures that show that there were more than 38,000 urgent appointments or attendances with GP practices, urgent treatment centres, minor injuries units and emergency departments across Hampshire and The Isle of Wight in the last week alone – an average of 1 every 2 seconds.
Lets just keep adding to the housing stock and population numbers. Good call IoW Council…..
Hampshire &the Island, not the island alone, what are those figures?
Totally agree ,truthsout, those so called council leaders / planners don’t give a sh1t about the knock on problems the island face with the decisions they make they are to ignorant to put it mildly .
they just want to tick boxes
Yet daily more and more newcomers arrive and breed even more to ruin our health service which they never have and many never will pay into.
SEE the problem that ‘can’ have something done about it.
MP’s WOULD if it effected their time waiting for treatment, but as all private could not care less.
Ukrainians?
Some of the reasons
They’re struggling for staff because its so toxic working there
Most of the beds there are occupied by elderly needing a care package
The other lot are nonces and pissheads.
Stop blaming people coming over, most of them are bred here!!
Get real the majority of people born on the island are those whose families have moved over here. That does not include second home owners who use our fascilities and are mostly elderly
so, urgent plea issued to the local community…….WTF can we do !
Don’t drink alcohol, don’t leave the house and mix with anyone, don’t drive, don’t be fat, don’t smoke, take your pills as prescribed, hide under your sofa and be a good citizen.
My thought exactly when I read the article.
The drunks and the druggies aren’t going to ease off because of something an NHS spokesperson says.
So, what are we supposed to do?
I have an idea though for the hospital bosses if beds are at a shortage – buy some more beds. Sounds too easy, doesn’t it and maybe it is, but we keep getting told that there’s elderly people ‘blocking beds’ because they don’t have anywhere to go, so I assume they don’t need specialised treatment, they just require a bed. Buy some more beds, allow for a bit of additional capacity not just the bare minimum requirements.
Possibly the inevitable consequence of the large influx of elderly urban retirees into the area ?
What is an urban retiree?
Is it similar to an economic migrant?
I think he’s referencing DFL’s retiring down here
Clearly states nearly every bed is occupied by patients NEEDING care, primary word being needing, not bed blockers or benefits what a judgemental uneducated comment. Shame that one of the possible side effects of the nasal spray they shoved up all the kids noses is Strep A. You lot need to open your eyes and see how they are manipulating everything from statistics to general health!!
Would it not be cheaper for the trust to bung those who are now not ill but need support
into a hotel on the island? This would be cheaper for the hospital, keep employment for the hotal staff and empty beds. I think i should be the health minister.
U going to pay the hotel bill then no what they is none emergency hospital for bed blockers
Shouldn’t have let FRANK JAMES go to wreck and ruin; then you would have had somewhere for patients who they like to term as bed blockers to go.
Don’t moan there are not enough nurses.
If you want people who make good nurses, stop expecting them to do a degree and pay for it themselves.
Its a practical job which used to attract practical caring people not academics.
Precisely not only Frank James but Fairlee, Ryde County Hospital & Shanklin
Ryde closed in the late 1980s and FJ closed in 2002, so we have had only one hospital for the last 20 years.
So tell me, genius, how come we only have a crisis now? It is lack of staff that is the problem, not lack of buildings.
Now give me your estimate of the cost to have kept FJ in usable condition for the last 20 years?
Fairlee is now the Mountbatten Hospice, so is still in use and is doing sterling work caring for those at the end of their lives.
Come on then genius. Considering that there aren’t enough staff to run the current hospital, and more are leaving every day because of the awful working conditions, how would you staff it if it had been kept up to standard (at a huge cost)
They should kick out the bed blockers
Ever heard of bunk beds????
So many patients could be discharged from St Mary’s if ONLY there were social care facilities in place. Many on the wards have Dementia. They don’t need hospital care but they do need to be in a home receiving specialist care.
Until this issue with Social Care is fixed, all the hospital’s throughout the UK face the same challenges. Unfortunately it’s getting worse and the Government are doing nothing to fix the problem.
Spot on.
But the far right loonies would rather blame those on benefits and immigrants.
What is truly scary is the way they get so many upvotes when they spread these lies. The crisis in the NHS is primarily caused by our aging population and the Government’s failure to plan for it. That is a fact.
I honestly despair for this lovely Island. It used to be a fantastic place full of lovely people. Not it seems to be full of the worst kind of racists and bigots imaginable. I can only assume most have moved here as it never used to be like this.
But the far right loonies would rather blame those on benefits and immigrants.
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really bingo – you remember that the next time you read about another boatload of immigrants arriving and your appointment is cancelled to make way for these sponging leeches.
instead of blaming the government – why don’t you step up and work in a care home – thought not.
it is people who are required not talking from government, that will create and start care homes as well as people who will work in them – politicians are no better, they do all the talking, but don’t actually do any care work themselves.