Hull A&E crisis ‘to last days’ as pressure grows on Health Secretary
‘WE ARE UNDER VERY HIGH PRESSURE’: Chief Executive Chris Long
EXCLUSIVE
By Simon Bristow
The crisis in Hull Royal Infirmary’s Accident and Emergency department is expected to last into next week, as pressure mounts on Health Secretary Thérèse Coffey to intervene.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has had to postpone operations and redeploy staff in response to “significant strain” caused by high volumes of people attending A&E, and an inability to discharge patients to home or social care to free up beds for those needing to be admitted.
Patients faced an average waiting time of eight hours in A&E on Thursday, and the trust confirmed it had to postpone 19 operations on Friday.
This afternoon, Hull’s three MPs wrote to Ms Coffey demanding immediate action to help relieve the pressure, including a telephone call to trust Chief Executive Chris Long, and for a meeting with the MPs when Parliament returns next week.
The Hull Story understands no such call has been made, as Mr Long revealed he expects the crisis to last for “three or four more days” before measures the trust has taken alongside its partners come into effect.
“We are still very pressured but we are working closely with partners in the community and social care to try to address things, and I think everybody is aware of just how serious things are and doing their best to help move things on,” he said.
“We are not at critical incident stage but it’s just very high pressure and probably reflects the situation up and down the country. I think that we are going to be under very high pressure for three or four more days and then hopefully some of the measures we and our partners are taking will take effect.”
QUEUE: Ambulances waiting to discharge patients at Hull Royal Infirmary
Mr Long said it was a combination of factors that was causing the bottleneck in A&E. He said: “All trust chief executives talk about flow and it’s their ability to allow patients to flow through the hospital, through the front door and out the back door, and when that’s compromised it’s difficult – we always operate on such tight margins in terms of capacity.”
But he said the lack of available beds for patients needing admitting from A&E was the biggest problem.
“The thing that would make the most difference would be being able to discharge at least 100 patients who are ready to go home or into a package of care and have those beds free or not blocked by long-stay patients,” he said.
Rising cases of Covid-19 are adding to the difficulties the hospital is facing, among both patients and staff, the chief executive said.
“We are seeing a slight increase in the number of patients with Covid, which in itself is not that big but it’s compounded by some of the other challenges we have and our ability to discharge,” he said. “We are also seeing an impact on staff absences [due to Covid] and rates are higher than normal.”
Mr Long also paid tribute to his colleagues for the way they are responding to the pressure, some of whom are being asked to work in different departments and with a different cohort of patients from what they are used to.
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“I think staff are, as ever, just responding magnificently,” he said. “They are still very focused on the care and safety of patients, and if that means doing extraordinary things that’s what they are doing. Staff are being brilliant.”
He also reiterated the appeal to the public to only attend A&E in urgent and serious cases. “We would certainly ask people to think very carefully about choosing A&E over some of the other options for accessing care, such as Urgent Treatment Centres and their GP,” he said.
In their letter to the Health Secretary, the Labour MPs, Dame Diana Johnson, Karl Turner, and Emma Hardy, said: “Our constituents will be extremely concerned and saddened to read that 29 patients are stuck in Hull Royal Infirmary Accident & Emergency Department with no appropriate ward bed, while 190 patients across the Trust are ready to be discharged but lack appropriate residential or at-home care.
“The current situation is a damning indictment of the last twelve years of under-funding, neglect, and inaction on health and social care. The system is at breaking point, and our constituents are suffering as a result. Our excellent health and social care staff in Hull are already doing their upmost to care for their patients, but government action is needed with the same dedication, commitment, and urgency.
“As Health Secretary, we expect you to be speaking to the Trust’s Chief Executive Chris Long today. We also expect time to be made for you to meet with us, as the city’s parliamentary representatives, as soon as possible once Parliament returns next week.”
The letter adds: “It is only October. The need for such drastic measures at this stage of the year does not bode well for how we will cope with additional winter pressures. We need an immediate plan of action, and the additional resources needed to fix a social care system that, despite the admirable efforts of those who work in it, is not fit for purpose as a consequence of years of under-funding.”
Hull City Council leader, Councillor Mike Ross, also wrote to Ms Coffey on Thursday, urging her to visit Hull to see the situation for herself.