'Dreadful' winter forecast as full extent of Coventry hospital's struggles uncovered

[dutchman]

The extent of the operational problems at University Hospital Coventry were laid bare



Accident and Emergency staff at Coventry's largest hospital are predicting a bleak winter with long ambulance queues outside and bed blocking inside expected to get even worse. The full extent of the operational struggles University Hospital Coventry is facing were laid bare in an eye-opening piece that featured on BBC 1's News At Ten broadcast on Thursday night.

One member of staff told the BBC's health editor Hugh Pym he feared a 'dreadful' winter, when covid and flu cases are likely to rise. Another revealed how there have been times when 20 ambulances have been stacked up outside the hospital because of bed blocking.

Senior Sister Sharon Rigby talked about the difficulty she and her colleagues face in finding beds for patients. "I'm sometimes called the 'door dragon'," she claimed. "It can be soul destroying, it really can.

"We want the patients to be seen as quickly as possible. I see on the screen how many ambulances are en route, I know how many spaces there are on the department and It can be really difficult."

A Minor Injuries and Illness Unit opened at the hospital in August with the chief aim to keep patients away from A&E. But the department's resources are still stretched.

Chief operating officer Gaby Harris told the programme: "We're doing an awful lot of work turning patients around as quickly as possible. Not admitting them so providing better care in the community and so redirecting them to those other provisions outside of the hospital walls."

Consultant Dr Edward Hartley delivered the most scathing assessment and one that is sure to concern residents in the city. He said: "Despite addressing every single thing we possibly can we are still not able to generate capacity in the system to get patients off the back of ambulances."

Later in the piece, Dr Hartley said: "I think this month is going to be dreadful. Really hard for patients and really hard for staff." Dr Edward Lodge told the BBC that it wasn't possible to film staff moving a patient onto the ward simply because they didn't have the capacity to do so at the time of recording.

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Dr Lodge said. "We don't have the space to move anybody. We've got patients waiting hours and hours for beds."

The piece also explored how the hospital can only discharge patients if they have sufficient social care in place or family members 'willing to take on their care'. In relation to the situation on the day of recording, ambulance liaison officer Esme Browning said: "I already know we're going to be holding more ambulances later.

"We've been told there's very little discharge within the hospital today. At the moment we've got two holding outside. That's a good day."

Asked by Mr Pym what a bad day looked like, Ms Browning replied: "We can have upto 20 ambulances holding outside." University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), which facilitated the BBC's visit, was approached for comment.

[dutchman]

It's the same EVERY winter and has been for as long as I can remember!