More than 200 patients waited over an hour in ambulances to be handed over to Nottinghamshire hospitals in the space of a week, figures have revealed. NHS data shows in the week up to January 8, 1,442 people arrived at A&Es by ambulance in the county.
A total of 210 of those arrivals had to wait over an hour to be handed over, with a further 241 waiting between 30 minutes to an hour. The statistics come as the NHS continues to face severe pressures
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) workers spoke out about the stressful working conditions during a strike on Wednesday. One ambulance technician, Lance Allen, told Nottinghamshire Live he had waited 'six or seven hours' with a patient at Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham last week.
Read more: Nottinghamshire ambulance workers 'leaving in droves', say striking staff
NHS Nottinghamshire said it was under 'extreme pressure' and advised the public to only attend A&E departments for serious accidents or emergencies. Figures show 196 patients waited for more than 60 minutes at QMC over the week-long period. This was the case for 14 patients spent at King's Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
One of the issues facing hospitals across Nottinghamshire - and the UK - is the inability to discharge patients who are medically fit to leave. This is due to problems with the wider health and social care system.
A total of 703 patients across Nottinghamshire were deemed to 'no longer meet the criteria to reside' at hospital on January 5. Of those, 198 were discharged by 5pm, and 112 were discharged between 5pm and midnight, leaving 393 patients in hospital who were otherwise fit enough to leave.
Nottingham University Hospitals had 498 patients ready to discharge but was only able to release 42% of them. Sherwood Forest Hospitals, meanwhile, had 205 patients ready to discharge but was only able to release 50% of them.
A spokesperson for NHS Nottinghamshire said: "The NHS in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is currently under extreme pressure with high demand for our services. Our teams across the health and care system are working together to ensure that hospital beds are available to those that need them in as timely a way as possible and only those patients who need to be in hospital are. This helps us ensure that ambulance hand overs can be as efficient as possible.
"The public can help by only calling 999 or attending A&E departments for serious accidents or emergencies; searching online for 'NHS 111' or dialling 111 from any phone if they are unsure of where they should go; considering using urgent treatment centres for things like sprains and strains; getting their flu and Covid-19 jabs; using their local pharmacy for things like allergies, coughs and colds; and calling the mental health crisis line on 0808 196 3779 if they are in mental health distress."
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