'Unprecedented' pressure at hospitals hit by staff shortages and rising demand

Senior doctors from the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA), which operates the A&E departments at The Royal Oldham Hospital and Fairfield Hospital and the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at Rochdale Infirmary, are asking the public to think carefully before attending A&E and consider which health service to use, as its local hospitals experience unprecedented demand.

The number of people attending the group’s three emergency departments in Bury, Oldham and Salford and the UCC in Rochdale has increased significantly over the last few days due to system wide pressures and demand where many people could instead self-care or get advice from their local pharmacy or NHS111.

At its monthly board meeting on Monday 26 July, held in public, Chief Executive Raj Jain explained the situation the group’s staff are currently facing: “In terms of Urgent Care, including primary care, community services, our Emergency Departments or our supporting wards and departments, we are now seeing unprecedented numbers coming to our front doors for urgent treatment.

“On top of this we have a high number of critically ill patients who need to have their treatment or surgery urgently. This includes our cancer patients and other patients who remain our priority.” 

He said: “In the 20 years I’ve been on the board, I’ve not seen a staffing situation like this with respect to demands we have on our staff.

“Our frontline staff and managers are making really difficult decisions every shift.

“I’m just amazed that we have what would be relatively junior staff in our organisation managing stressful situations in such a professional way and having every regard for the people around them, trying to keep them safe.

“We do need to reinforce the message that’s going out to the public of only using emergency departments if you really, really need to.

“But my real message is a message of thank you to our staff.

“We are really recognising the extraordinary pressures they are facing. We know they are doing their best. We will ensure we give them the support we can to make sure they are keeping colleagues and patients as safe as we can.”

The current pressures on the service are a result of a number of factors, including urgent care demand, staffing levels and the backlog of cases caused by the pandemic.

At the Royal Oldham, caring for patients in corridors is becoming ‘normalised’ as the hospital faces a long-term shortage of 55 beds, according to modelling.

And in a bid to avoid 999 calls, staff at Rochdale Care Organisation – the branch of the NCA which runs Rochdale Infirmary – were calling care homes this weekend, asking whether they were concerned about any residents.

Chief delivery officer Jude Adams told the board that the NCA is working with Greater Manchester and will respond jointly as a health care system this week.

She also presented plans in preparation for the seasonal surge in the winter.

The NCA will focus on same-day emergency care, more virtual appointments and shorter stays in hospital as part of the plan to alleviate problems with flow.

She said: “We know if we keep patients in hospital, we do more harm than we do good. All of that is additional pressure on resources in our system.”

 

 

Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer Dr Chris Brookes, who is also an emergency consultant, has reiterated the need for the public to choose the right service and enable patients who have the most serious conditions to be able to access the care they need.

He said: “As evidenced in many other parts of the region and across the country we are currently experiencing severe and immense system pressures across our hospital sites, community services and local healthcare systems in Salford, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale.

“At the same time as these immense, unparalleled pressures we have some significant staffing pressures we are grappling with too. This is due to a number of factors. Although our NCA group is one of the best staffed organisations in GM in terms of vacancy levels and staff turnover, despite this, we are currently struggling with staff sickness and staff isolation although we expect this to be improved with the recent changes to guidance.

“We would ask the public that anyone considering visiting A&E who isn’t a genuine emergency case to think carefully before doing so and, where appropriate, to please seek information and help through NHS 111 and our local pharmacy networks who are there if you need immediate care that is not life threatening. Thank you for your support.”

Dr Brookes added: “We remain immensely proud of our NCA workforce (our NCA Family) and thank them for everything they are doing during this period of severe pressure on the system.”

Help and advice is available from NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk.

A&E is still there for people who need it for example if you are suffering from severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, bleeding you can’t stop, possible broken bones or loss of consciousness.

Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporter