The problem is set to become worse in the coming days as cases in the area rise
A Devon hospital inundated with coronavirus patients has been forced to declare an ‘internal critical incident’. Some 97% of beds are currently occupied at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth – and the problem is set to become worse in the coming days as cases in the area rise.
Bosses say the hospital has been ‘extremely busy’ in recent months, averaging around 95% occupancy of beds. Jo Beer, chief operating officer at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, said: ‘The Trust entered an internal critical incident on Monday. ‘The incident was declared due to high bed occupancy and a sustained high level of Emergency Department attendance converting into an above-average level of admission. ‘We are experiencing our highest level of Covid occupancy of the third wave and expect this to increase further – as a result we have reconfigured our bed capacity to manage both Covid and non-Covid capacity but this needs continual review. ‘Pressure is also being felt in the region’s wider health and social care system, this presents some impact on the ability to discharge patients into the community care settings when medically fit.’ De-escalation measures are in place, including the stepping down of non-urgent meetings, but there are fears of a knock-on effect for other services.People have been urged to get vaccinated to help reduce the pressure on hospitals in the South West Chief operating officer Kevin Baber said both an increase in Covid-19 admissions and a greater demand on A&E departments were partly to blame. He said there were currently 100 patients who were ‘medically fit for discharge’ but the hospital was unable to place them into community or social care. ‘All in all we’ve probably got about a quarter of our bed stock tied up with managing the ongoing Covid pandemic and patients who are medically fit who could be cared for elsewhere,’ Mr Baber said. He added emergency departments in Plymouth had been ‘very busy’ in the last week, adding pressure to the system. There were 52 patients with Covid-19 at Derriford Hospital as of Wednesday, meaning at least three wards could not be used by uninfected patients.
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