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Hospital trust protects elective surgeries and halves number of medically-fit patients waiting for discharge over winter

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

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A Nottingham hospital trust says fewer fit patients are in beds waiting to be discharged because of steps taken to ease pressure over the winter.

And the recent winter months were the second in a row where elective surgeries weren’t cancelled – despite ongoing demand on services.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) runs the City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), with a combined capacity of more than 1,600 beds.

The trust dealt with rising pressures and demand this winter due to increased flu, norovirus and RSV levels.

In early December, NHS England said national health services were facing a potential “quad-demic” over winter.

That included a 350 per cent increase in flu cases and an 86 per cent rise in norovirus cases in hospitals nationally around the start to middle of December 2024 – compared to the same week in 2023.

A temporary ward was opened at City Hospital in December to manage winter demand.

It aimed to offer 27 extra beds to deal with admission numbers and improve patient flow. A similar ward was opened at the QMC in January.

Today the trust said this helped to halve the number of medically-fit patients waiting to be discharged to around 150.

Mark Simmonds, NUH’s Deputy Medical Director, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Historically, those numbers were as high as 250 to 300 at any one time, now we are seeing those numbers much lower.

“And that was maintained through the winter.”

Mr Simmonds says this is “two wards worth of beds” and has allowed planned surgeries, like knee and hip replacements, to go ahead without winter pressures being the cause of cancellation.

This has positive knock-on effects for the wider patient flow through the hospital.

He added: “If we don’t do those operations, people come in as emergencies, that is not what we want at all. We absolutely wish to maintain that.”

Better patient flow is also achieved through increasing day-case surgeries, like knee and hip replacements.

The trust says 58 per cent of these elective care cases are now same-day discharge, compared with just 10 per cent pre-Covid.

The trust also says patients in the QMC’s A&E are on average waiting 40 minutes less to be seen this winter compared with last year, and are also waiting two hours less to be given a bed.

NUH, along with East Midlands Ambulance Service, has been piloting a 45-minute ambulance handover scheme, with patients who’ve had a potential stroke or heart attack being responded to 20 minutes faster.

Mr Simmonds told the LDRS in January this scheme has led to more patient corridor care in the emergency department.

He said today (February 28): “We had scenes in our emergency department, but also on our wards, that we don’t recognise as the way we want to care for patients. We’ve got a lot more work to do.”

Lilian Greenwood MP, who represents Nottingham South for Labour in Parliament, visited the QMC on Friday to thank staff for their efforts during the winter.

On the visit, she said: “We know we aren’t able to deliver the healthcare that all our constituents want and expect without the fantastic work at NUH.”

She added the Labour Government is “determined” to improve the function of NHS hospitals.

She said: “The most important resource we have is the people who deliver care, it’s about working with them, changing the way we work and putting more focus on community care, preventative health care.”