This in from IW NHS, in their own words. Ed
This has led to the difficult decision to postpone non urgent surgery (both day case and inpatient) for Tuesday 14th April.
All the patients affected are being contacted.
All other patients who have not been contacted should attend for their appointment or procedure as scheduled. In-patient operations that are being prioritised to proceed include:
- All patients on a cancer fastrack pathway;
- All patients on an urgent pathway who require their treatment within the next 2 weeks
Unexpected surge in demand
Shaun Stacey, Interim Deputy Chief Operating Officer, said:
“After a period of relative calm over the Easter holidays we have again experienced an unexpected surge in demand today. There appears to be no particular reason for this, although we continue to see more very unwell elderly patients with complex needs who are being admitted through the Emergency Department.
“We have additional beds which we are opening to cope with the increase in emergency admissions and asking any nursing, healthcare assistant or occupational therapists who are able to work extra hours to contact the Trust. We are doing everything possible to make sure that where operations have to be cancelled, patients are offered a new appointment as quickly as possible.”
Limited number of available nursing home beds
The Trust is actively working with the local authority’s social services teams and the Island’s nursing homes, as well as patients’ families and carers, to ensure those ready to leave hospital can be found appropriate placements.
The new 13 bed Poppy Unit continues to take appropriate patients who are eligible to be cared for on the unit and has received good reviews from patients who have been through the Unit. However the limited number of available nursing home beds on the Island prevents us from discharging more patients who are fit to leave hospital. Nursing and residential homes are urged to contact the Trust as soon as beds become available.
Use health services appropriately
The Trust is urging Islanders to use health services appropriately and anyone needing non-urgent medical care is asked to consider using alternative services, such as phoning the non-emergency 111 advice line, their local pharmacy or GP. The national ‘Feeling Under the weather’ campaign (www.nhs.uk/asap) is based on research that shows that the elderly and those that care for them do not seek advice early enough and this enables conditions to deteriorate to a point where a referral to hospital is necessary.
As soon as individuals start to develop a cough or cold we would encourage them to visit their local pharmacy for advice and over the counter medicine as this pre-emptive action may catch some of these nasty winter illnesses in the bud before they become full blown problems.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Auntie P
