‘Challenging’ winter ahead for local hospitals, warns trust

LOCAL patients and healthcare staff are in for a winter of long waits and extreme challenges, with the public being urged to only attend emergency departments in ‘true emergencies’, as the health service struggles to cope with demand.

The Western Trust’s Geraldine McKay outlined the severe pressures facing its emergency departments in SWAH and Altnagelvin in a briefing to local media.

Noting winter was always ‘a very challenging period’, she explained that this year, the pressure had been sustained, with staff not getting any break from the high demand during the summer and autumn, as would usually be the case.

With a surge in patients over-75 needing treatment – who have more complex needs and require longer hospital stays – and with viruses such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) currently rife in the local community, Ms McKay said the pressure on staff and the system was pervasive.

“On any given day, you’ll see we manage between 40-60 patients waiting for beds in our emergency department across the Trust each morning,” she said, referring to both the SWAH and Altnagelvin.

“This impacts on the ability of our staff to see and triage and assess the volume of patients in our waiting area.

“Across the Trust, we count up to 300-350 patients per day.

“We have, obviously, high numbers awaiting admission, and lengthy waits then for those triaged as non-urgent or who could have gone to alternative places.”

Ms McKay, who is director of unscheduled care, medicine, cancer and clinical services, added, “There are other hospitals across the system that are equally as busy, or more busy, on a daily basis. That makes transferring patients elsewhere difficult as well.”

She also noted that cold snaps, such as the ice seen over the past week, also added to ED demand and pressure.

Outlining a number of measures the Trust has been taking to mitigate the pressures – such as hiring scores of new nurses at both SWAH and Altnagelvin EDs – Ms McKay made a plea to the public to help ease this pressure.

“I would ask you to consider alternatives to the emergency department,” she said, urging people to only attended EDs in ‘true emergencies’.

“We have local pharmacies which are brilliant at supporting people with minor illnesses. We have our urgent care treatment centre in Omagh which a lot of the population are now using.

“We also have primary care, we have Phone First, we have a number of alternative pathways and from January we will have our stand alone minor injuries unit hopefully at Altnagelvin.”

When asked what a ‘true emergency’ entailed, Ms McKay said, “For example, if a patient is suffering an emergency, such as chest pain or any of those things like a collapse, any of those things that patients experience where you would ring a 999 ambulance. That’s what I mean when I say a real emergency.”

Adding a patient who wasn’t sure they were likely not a true emergency, she urged those in doubt to call the Phone First number, 0300 020 6000, for assessment. You can also text the service on 0870 240 5152.

Ms McKay added, “I don’t want somebody with a real emergency holding off if they believe it’s a true emergency. You ring 999, and you get to the emergency department. We are open for business.”

Concluding, Ms McKay paid a special tribute to local health staff, thanking them for ‘all they do every day’.

“This has been an extremely challenging year for not only the public attending our services, but our staff who work in it daily,” she said.

“We’ve had no reduction of pressure over the summer/autumn period, and our staff have worked tirelessly throughout this period to make sure our patients are safe on a daily basis, in the midst of all that pressure and challenge.”