By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
Hospital patients in Nottinghamshire are being prioritised based on how urgent their care needs are as the whole local NHS system is now under a critical incident.
Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, took that step on Monday (December 19) due to a large number of people at the “front door”.
Now, the whole NHS system in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is under a critical incident – meaning healthcare bosses are concerned they cannot provide critical services for patients.
It means some operations and outpatient appointments may be postponed to “prioritise patients with the most urgent clinical need”.
Royal College of Nursing members are walking out on December 20 and some East Midlands Ambulance Service workers, including paramedics, are striking on December 21.
In a statement, the Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions local healthcare services, said: “We are continuing to see high numbers of patients arriving at our hospitals, high demand for all services across the system, extended waiting times to access beds within our hospitals and difficulties in discharging patients.
“As a result, the health and care system is taking additional steps to prioritise and maintain safe services for patients.
“Working together as a system, we will provide mutual aid, maximise resources to manage urgent and emergency care pressures and coordinate our incident management.
“Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to be able to manage emergency care.”
On December 19, NUH’s medical director Dr Keith Girling said every bed was filled across the hospitals at the weekend, and the Trust is currently “at a stage where we are moving one in for one out”.
NUH is seeing high numbers of patients with the flu and falls attending the Emergency Department at the QMC.
The ICB added: “We regret that it has been necessary to take this step, but it is important that we focus on patients needing urgent and emergency care as a priority.
“If you are not contacted directly about an operation being postponed, please continue to attend your appointment as usual.
“Our teams are continuing to work exceptionally hard, and we would like to reassure the public that despite the challenges faced, our services remain open for anyone who needs them.
“However, there are ways that you can help us.”
It asked people only call 999 or attend A&E departments for serious accidents and for “genuine emergencies” and call 111 for advice.
They asked relatives of those in hospital to collect family members as early as possible to free up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted.
