Western Trust outlines aim to ease winter health pressures

PLANS to address winter pressures have been outlined by the Western Trust.

Senior officials from the Trust met with Fermanagh and Omagh District councillors this week to provide updates on a range of issues, including efforts to ease the pressures on its services over the coming months.

Their plan is based around what they describe as three ‘high impact’ areas.

It also outlines how it can maximise ambulance capacity, reduce the time spent in emergency departments, ensure timely hospital discharge and prepare for potential surge in Covid-19 rates and industrial action

Director of unscheduled Care, Cancer, Diagnostics and Medicine, Geraldine McKay, said that they wanted to maximise ambulance capacity and ensure that there were no delays for ambulances when they reached any of the three main hospitals within the Trust area.

She said that they wanted to reduce the time spent by patients in emergency departments who are awaiting clinical decisions and what their next stage of care should be.

There are also plans to help ensure timely hospital discharge for patients who are medically fit to be discharged.

Details of the plan also include key supports which the Trust hopes will ensure that it is successfully implemented. These are staff health and wellbeing, preparations for industrial action and local and regional oversight arrangements.

“It is important that we ensure patients are discharged in a timely manner,” she told councillors.

“We also need to protect our capacity for elective operations, and there is a real focus in terms of targets for patients who are on waiting lists.”

The director said that protecting elective services is a priority, and added that they are confident that the Trust will be able to maintain and improve the activity taking place in terms of elective or pre-planned operations.

“What I do not want to be doing is saying that we do not have enough bed capacity. We want to make sure that patients go to the right place.”

The Trust is also aiming to improve the discharge rates for patients who are declared medically fit to go home, and has urged families to work with them in ensuring that this happens.