PRESSURE at Bournemouth and Poole hospitals is no longer under critical incident status – but demand remains “extreme” with staff foregoing annual leave to keep working.
University Hospitals Dorset (UHD), which manages both sites, declared a critical incident on Thursday, December 29, around 24 hours after South Western Ambulance Service made the same decision.
While the critical incident status has been stepped down, emergency department wait times remain high – more than 10 hours in some cases – with UHD urging the public to seek care elsewhere when possible.
UHD medical director Dr Tristan Richardson said: “I’ve been working in Bournemouth and Poole for 23 years and this is the worst year that I’ve ever seen and that’s because of a number of issues.
Our hospitals are under extreme pressures right now, and as our medical director @Tristan_UHD outlines here, we continue to focus on making sure patients are safe and our critical services keep running. Thank you #TeamUHD, for all that you do. https://t.co/jerdQODbzi @NHSDorset pic.twitter.com/HW7BG6JcgR
— University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (@UHD_NHS) January 3, 2023
“We need to get people home, we need you to help get your loved ones home and that will free up the flow of patients from our hospitals.
“This is a time when we’ve got great stress. Our staff are coming in [while] on leave, doing extra hours and extra shifts to try and combat some of the difficulties we’re seeing. This is really difficult.”
Poole MP Sir Robert Syms said his constituents were complaining to him more about GP availability than hospital wait times.
He told the Echo: “The root of the problem is that there still isn’t the access my constituents expect from GPs and that means more go to A&E, there is a backup of ambulances and we then see this pinch point of pressure.”
The Tory MP also felt greater help should be given to hospital trusts under the most pressure, adding: “I’ve noticed quite a few doctors sounding off on Twitter, but bearing in mind that some of them are in dispute with the government over pay, I’m not so sure the situation across the country is as bad as they’re projecting.
“We need to keep a close eye because clearly it’s not a good situation.”
Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood said he would be visiting Royal Bournemouth Hospital on Wednesday, January 4, following conversations with Health and Social Care Select Committee chair Steve Brine MP in which Mr Ellwood expressed concerns about the situation locally.
Mr Ellwood also said he was lobbying for a meeting with health secretary Steve Barclay.
He said: “I hope this will be debated the first day back in Parliament because there are many colleagues across the board who are very concerned. We take huge pride in our NHS and despite significant investment there’s still a lot more work to do to provide the level of support the British public expects.
“I understand the Prime Minister is looking at an emergency primary care support to be announced when Parliament returns because we need longer term solutions for the NHS to manage on a daily basis.”
A UHD spokesperson added: “We continue to focus on making sure our patients are safe and that we keep our critical services running.”
The trust is also preparing for forthcoming strikes from SWAST on January 11 and 23 and the RCN on January 18 and 19.
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