Nottinghamshire health chiefs assure patients county hospitals can cope with high winter demand

Trust leaders across the country have warned England’s hospitals are dangerously busy, with many hospitals nearing breaking point and two trusts running out of beds entirely last week, figures show.

NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, has warned this Christmas will be one of the ‘darkest to date’ for the health system.

Figures to the week ending December 18 show that in Nottinghamshire, hospitals in the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust – which includes Mansfield Community and Sutton’s King’s Mill hospitals – was at 92.5 per cent capacity with just 32 beds remaining.

Likewise, the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, which includes Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, was at 93.8 per cent capacity with 103 beds remaining.

According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, hospitals are considered to be too busy if more than 85 per cent of their available general and acute beds are occupied by patients.

NHS providers also said a surge in flu cases had impacted bed occupancy, and more patients were staying longer in hospital because of more severe illness and delayed discharges, putting a massive strain on the entire health and care system.

Amanda Sullivan, NHS Nottinghamshire chief executive, said: “Health and social care partners in Nottinghamshire are working together to mitigate winter pressures across the system.

“We have a robust winter plan in place to help alleviate these pressures which includes; providing more mental health crisis support – including a new acute mental health inpatient unit – opening up additional hospital bed capacity, introducing virtual wards which use technology to treat patients in their own homes, rolling out deep clean programmes to reduce healthcare associated infections, setting up three new discharge hubs to help speed up the discharge processes, social prescribing for high intensity service users and further investment in home care.

“We continue to ask the public to use our services wisely to ensure those patients with the greatest need can access care and support when they need it. If you are unsure where you should go, contact 111 first to make sure you are seen in the right place and by the right person.”