It has been reported that the health care system in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is facing unprecedented levels of pressure and health bosses have now declared a “critical incident” due to unprecedented pressure on services.
The unprecedented levels of pressure have partly been attributed to hospitals seeing significant levels of Covid-19 cases, alongside high numbers of patients arriving at hospitals with other conditions.
With ambulance services already stretched to the limit, there are now extended waiting times to access beds within the hospitals. There are also difficulties in discharging patients due to the lack of capacity across the care sector coinciding with staff absences.
The Nottinghamshire Trusts have commented, stating that they are taking additional steps to prioritise and maintain safe services for patients.
“Our main 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 the hospital, will be postponed to prioritise patients with the most urgent clinical need.”
Comment
When we think of our hospitals and urgent care facilities, we think of a world-leading system. However, due to unprecedented demand, the recent heat wave, and Covid-19, it seems to be buckling under the pressure.
As a result, patient health is clearly being put at risk and any sort of delay is impacting lives considerably.
Whilst we have been told to carry on with our daily lives, Covid-19 is still having a dramatic effect on our health care system and life as a whole.
What will the NHS Trusts implement going forward, with rising levels of Covid-19, staff absences, and bed shortages? Obviously, we cannot carry on at the pace we are, so what can be done to ease the pressure on the NHS?
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