Influx of patients caused operation cancellations at Coventry hospital

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An Influx of patients caused operations to be cancelled at University Hospital Coventry so consultants could work in the busy Accident and Emergency department



The hospital on Clifford Bridge Road has seen high numbers of patients over the festive period, and continues to do so into the new year.

The trust cancelled non-urgent operations such as knee or hip replacements for patients across Warwickshire, so doctors could staff the emergency department.

A hospital spokeswoman said: “During times of high pressure, we need to ensure that the most sick and vulnerable patients are able to receive any necessary treatment as soon as possible.

“To do this, unfortunately it is occasionally necessary to cancel some elective surgery. We work with our surgeons to ensure each patient is individually assessed before any decisions are taken. All children, urgent patients, and those with suspected cancer are admitted and have their operations as scheduled.”

Nearby Warwick Hospital has also been struggling under the pressure, with chief executive Glen Burley saying the A&E department was the busiest he had known it in his 11 years at the hospital.

Across Coventry and Warwickshire people have been advised to try alternative services if their illness or injury is not life-threatening.

The number of people being hospitalised due to so-called ‘deadly’ Australian flu also impacted services.

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Woman waits for EIGHT HOURS in A&E which resembled 'Third World country'



The mum-of-one from Coventry was taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties following an asthma attack

A woman has spoken of her horror after spending eight hours on a bed in the corridors of A&E at University Hospital Coventry.

She told the Telegraph it resembled a Third World country when she was left to wait with tens of other people on beds.

The mum-of-one from Coventry, who doesn't wish to be named, was taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties following an asthma attack.

She said: “It was Friday night at around 11pm when I got taken in by the paramedics.

“It was just horrible when I got in there.

“There were 40-plus beds all in the corridor, and even when I got there, they wouldn’t get me a bed.

“I came in a wheelchair off the ambulance so they thought I could just sit down, but it was a two-hour wait to speak to a doctor.

“I was on the corridor with a lot of elderly people and nobody got offered water or to use the toilet.

“The nurses were so stretched.

“I was there about eight hours in total.

“The worst thing was paramedics had to stand around and wait to do their handover, they couldn’t even sit down.

“There were about ten of them and they couldn’t leave until they did a handover.”

She said there was blood on the floor, and it was a problem to even ask for a glass of water.

The woman added: “I asked for a glass of water but they didn’t know if there was any.

“There are people being sick and coughing and a man drunkenly shouting.

“They all looked like they were about to die.

“By that point it was around 5am and I had been there for about six hours and there was blood in the toilet and sick too.

“There were bodies everywhere, and that is what is worrying, if people are so close together, and being sick, it makes it easier to catch something.

“I got put on a bed after my first consultation. You think you are moving, you just go from one corridor to another and see a row of beds.

“It was like a Third World country.”

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No beds left as University Hospital Coventry hits new low and 'maximum capacity'



COVENTRY’S University Hospital hit a new low this week with no free beds left and all departments at “maximum capacity”, the Observer can exclusively reveal.

The extreme circumstances – known unofficially as a ‘black alert’ across the NHS – triggered crisis measures on wards, corridors and the accident and emergency department in Coventry.

Such serious incidents – amid the winter and flu outbreak – compromise patient safety, and patients can be diverted to other hospitals.

One source told us senior staff were notified by email of the highest level of alert this week.

Our source claimed the email from management had identified 40 patients were waiting on trolleys.

Some large cupboards on wards allegedly had to be used for some waiting patients with no space left in corridors.

Official data for UHCW registered with NHS England in recent years – up to February 4 this year – appears to show the hospital has never before registered any day when it experienced a 100 per cent bed occupancy rate.

On February 4 this year, bed occupancy rates at UHCW hit 97.8 per cent. On New Year’s Eve it was 99 per cent. The national maximum target for bed occupancy is 85 per cent.

On February 4, 48 of 148 patients taken to University Hospital’s A&E department by ambulance experienced ‘drop-off’ delays of between 30 minutes and an hour – among the highest in the country.

This exceeded the national target of 15 minutes for patients waiting in ambulances to be handed over to A&E staff.

We reported last month some non-urgent operations had been cancelled at UHCW. That situation continues.