Non-urgent operations have been postponed in Nottinghamshire as pressures mount on health services across the county. The local NHS has declared a 'critical incident' due to significant numbers of Covid cases, a lack of capacity in the care sector and high numbers of patients arriving at hospitals needing treatment.
At the beginning of the year, a large number of NHS trusts across England declared critical incidents, whereby unprecedented and continued pressures on services prompt the re-organisation and prioritisation of services. And as of Wednesday, July 27, hospitals across Nottinghamshire have too declared a critical incident.
Only in April Nottinghamshire Live saw a leaked email to GPs asking for their assistance on wards in hospitals as pressures continued to rise. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has, as a result of continued soaring demand, released a statement detailing why a critical incident has been declared.
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The Integrated Care Board says: "We are continuing to see significant levels of Covid-19 in our hospitals, alongside high numbers of patients arriving at our hospitals for other conditions. There are extended waiting times to access beds within our hospitals. This, paired with difficulties in discharging patients due to a lack of capacity across our care sector, as well as staff absence due to Covid-19, is causing a significant strain on the system.
"As a result, the healthcare system is taking additional steps to prioritise and maintain safe services for patients. Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to be able to manage emergency care. This means that some non-urgent operations, where patients require a stay in hospital, will be postponed to prioritise patients with the most urgent clinical need.
"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."
The ICB has emphasised there are a number of things Nottinghamshire residents can do to assist with the situation, as NHS staff shortages and illness cause problems across the health and care sectors. These include only calling 999 or attending A&E departments for serious accidents and for genuine emergencies as well as visiting urgent care centres and advising the NHS of your absence if you need to cancel an appointment.
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