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How the NHS is preparing for winter across North Yorkshire and the Humber

Health and social care organisations across North Yorkshire and the Humber have been working together to improve the delivery of care this winter.

Learning from last year’s pressures, hospitals will introduce initiatives including the creation of special pathways for respiratory patients, ‘winter wards’ and enhanced discharge teams to deal with the associated pressures of winter such as norovirus and flu.

Amongst the initiatives are additional planned respiratory clinics at York Hospital.

Melanie Liley, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, explained: “During the winter months, York Hospital will be providing additional outpatient respiratory clinics for patients who have been referred to the hospital from their GP or who have attended A&E.

“The extra clinics will reduce waiting times for patients and help them stay well over winter.”

 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 generally seen within 30 minutes and are appropriately cared for.

In Hull, a 27-bed ‘winter ward’ will open next month to respond to rising seasonal demand.

Mike Wright, Chief Nurse for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said:

“We know that our medical bed occupancy increases during the winter months. The opening of the winter ward will give us extra capacity to care for those who are seriously ill and who need to be in hospital over the coming months, while minimising the impact on other services.”

Pressure within the health system at winter can often become more pronounced due to delayed transfers of care or patient flow within the hospitals. A delay in transfer process to another care setting or service means the unavailability of a bed for someone else who needs it.

At Goole and District Hospital, the development of a new mobile theatre will ensure an additional 720 patients can be treated.

Dr Peter Reading, chief executive at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have increased capacity across a number of services. For example, at Goole and District Hospital we are now seeing an extra 200 patients a month and we are also opening a state-of-the-art mobile theatre there, which means we can treat an extra 720 patients.

“We also currently have building works ongoing at Scunthorpe to put in a new CT scanner and a new urgent care facility. These will help increase our diagnostic capacity and with the flow of patients through our emergency service.”

This year’s NHS England and Public Heath England winter campaign: ‘Help Us Help You’ urges 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 Yorkshire and the Humber, Dr Paul Twomey 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 become unwell. You can now access your GP in the evening and weekends and local pharmacists can help with minor illnesses. If you need urgent health advice, call 111.”

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 patients go home quicker. Yorkshire and the Humber will receive over £20m in total.