How the NHS is preparing for winter across the region
As December approaches, health and social care organisations in the North East and North Cumbria are fine-tuning their winter preparations.
Hospitals in the region are receiving extra funding, part of a £240million fund announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, to assist with winter preparations such as homecare and reablement packages to help support patients to go home as soon as they can. The North East will receive almost £14 million.
Learning from last year’s pressures, hospitals have mechanisms in place and have introduced new ways of working to deal with surges in demand.
Across the region, hundreds of beds can be allocated as dedicated ‘winter beds’ during surges, for example, for respiratory-related admissions which increase as temperatures fall.
Dedicated areas to assist patients to transfer to home, often called ‘discharge lounges’, are also in place. These give patients a comfortable space to wait in before returning home and help ensure they leave hospitals with the correct medicines and paperwork. They also help to free up bed space on wards as promptly as possible.
A&E departments face huge demand in winter and ‘streaming’ is in place in major A&Es so that patients with non-emergency illness are seen as quickly as possible.
Having been hit hard by norovirus and flu last winter, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospital and community services in Northumberland and North Tyneside, is taking what it learnt from responding to these outbreaks and increasing its infection control efforts.
Changes have also been made at The Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital to improve the flow of patients in the emergency department.
Dr Mark Harrison, emergency medicine consultant, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Winter is always a busy time and we’ve done a lot to prepare. We’ve changed the layout of our ambulance arrival zone to make a safe, confidential and dignified area for patients to be handed over by the ambulance crews to the nursing staff, and to help get those crews back out more efficiently.
“We’ve also reconfigured emergency care to ensure that patients get to the right treatment zones as quickly as possible.”
Homecare and reablement services are helping people to get better quicker in the comfort of their own home, ensuring they have the support and aids they need to leave and stay out of hospital. This reduces delays in patients leaving and eases pressure on wards.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides discharge support comprising teams of health and social care staff including community nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, who work with partners and the voluntary sector to support patients returning home.
The region’s hospital trusts are promoting the #endpjparalysis campaign to help patients out of their pyjamas and up and out of bed to aid their recovery, and the trusts are all working hard to ensure as many staff as possible get the flu jab.
This year’s NHS England and Public Heath England winter campaign: ‘Help Us Help You’ is urging us all to play our own part in staying well, and choosing the right service to get the right help at the right time.
NHS England’s Medical Director for Cumbria and the North East, Professor Chris Gray, said: “The NHS has plans in place for the additional pressures that winter brings. We are building on our work last year and will be monitoring the system across the region to resolve issues and help manage patient flow.
“It’s vital to get help early if you are falling ill. You can now access your GP in the evening and weekends and local pharmacists can help with minor illnesses, and the flu jab is the best way to protect against flu. If you need urgent health advice, call 111.”
5 tips to ‘Help Us Help You’ this winter:
- Get your flu jab –it’s the most effective way to protect yourself and loved ones
- Check the UK page to know which NHS service is best for your needs
- If you have a minor illness or ailment, ask your pharmacist first
- If you care for children (in Cumbria and the North East)– download the free child health app for advice
- Keep warm and stock up your medicine cabinet.