Portsmouth hospital trust left with 'no spare' beds for critically-ill adults as Covid-19 case soar

EMBATTLED emergency workers at a city hospital were left with no spare adult critical care beds last week, NHS England figures show.
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Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, which runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, was among 15 acute trusts to have reported a 100 per cent occupancy of all ‘open’ beds each day from January 11 to January 17.

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A spokeswoman for the NHS in the South East said: ‘The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to manage significant pressure and this includes working with partners to discharge patients, providing additional capacity within hospitals and health and care systems working together to provide mutual aid to ensure the very best care for patients.

Ambulances are seen outside A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital on December 31, 2020 in Portsmouth, Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty ImagesAmbulances are seen outside A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital on December 31, 2020 in Portsmouth, Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
Ambulances are seen outside A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital on December 31, 2020 in Portsmouth, Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

‘It remains vital that people continue to follow government guidance and do everything possible to reduce transmission of the virus.’

Hospital executives yesterday moved children's emergency department to the children’s assessment unit on A Level.

In a statement, a spokesman for the hospital said: ‘This move will allow us to create temporary additional handover space for the high number of patients coming into the adult emergency department via ambulance. It forms part of our response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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‘The same high-level care we have always provided will continue to be offered to those visiting the children’s emergency department in its temporary location.’

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NHS England figures show that one in 10 major hospital trusts had no spare adult critical care beds last week.

As previously reported, latest figures from last month showed a decrease in the number of visits to A&E and the emergency department from November to December at the Queen Alexandra.

But ambulance handovers at the Cosham hospital have worsened as Covid pressures soar.

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A total of 254 patients waited more than 60 minutes to be transferred from ambulance teams to A&E staff in the week to January 10, NHS data showed.

It meant that Queen Alexandra had the second highest number of hour-plus delays across England, with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust reporting the highest number with 291 delays.

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