Elderly patients in Southampton moved to solve beds crisis

11:00am Sunday 21st October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter

Southampton General Hospital Southampton General Hospital

HOSPITAL bosses are moving elderly patients to solve a bed shortage caused by a ten per cent rise in emergency admissions.

The surge in the number of patients needing emergency care over the past 12 months has caused a severe bed shortage at Southampton General Hospital, resulting in planned operations being cancelled, with the knock-on effect of pushing up waiting times.

Between 2011 and 2012 emergency admissions were ten per cent higher than expected by August, a trend that continued throughout the year, and 134 operations were cancelled because there were no beds available for patients.

With the demand for beds only set to increase bosses want to implement a plan that will see 24 elderly care beds moved from ward G8 to the Upper Brambles ward at the Royal South Hants Hospital (RSH) for six months.

This will free up 22 surgical beds which can be used to treat patients who need to be admitted for planned procedures, helping to cut the number of patients facing last minute cancellations and allowing the hospital to hit its 18 week target from GP referral to treatment.

Several steps have already been made to boost capacity, including a five-month building project currently under-way to increase capacity in the emergency department, which on average sees 110,000 patients every year.

Hospital chiefs have also increased the number of nurse practitioners in the emergency department to treat less severe cases and avoid unnecessary admission.

But despite this there are still not enough beds available to meet the present demand.

In a letter to Hampshire councillors explaining the move Mark Hackett, chief executive of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This move directly benefits patients waiting for surgery as it releases 22 beds for this purpose so that we can ensure waiting times do not increase when there are high numbers of patients needing urgent care.

“With this transfer we will be able to continue providing high quality care for patients needing urgent and emergency treatment at Southampton General Hospital.

“For elderly care patients in medical beds transferring to the RSH means we can offer the same level of clinical supervision and care but in an improved environment in a community setting.”

Comments(16)

southy says...
11:11am Sun 21 Oct 12

Or is this an excuse to move patients to the Private Health Care at the NHS RSH, filtering public money to the private sector.

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havemercy says...
11:41am Sun 21 Oct 12

Do you have to see a left conspiracy in everything? Is it not just possible that, with the rise in the elderly population (due to good medicine/housing/nut
rition etc) that we just need more beds?

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999medic says...
11:44am Sun 21 Oct 12

Southy for your information, Brambles is a purpose built elderly care unit and has nothing to do with the private facilities at the RSH. The unit whilst part of the private initiative is bought into by the GPS, thus giving you freedom of choice in your treatment.

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southy says...
12:31pm Sun 21 Oct 12

999medic wrote:
Southy for your information, Brambles is a purpose built elderly care unit and has nothing to do with the private facilities at the RSH. The unit whilst part of the private initiative is bought into by the GPS, thus giving you freedom of choice in your treatment.
very good point on Brambles, that is if they can fit them in, but there is also a need for beds for those coming into the system where are they going to go now, Private should never happen with in the NHS.

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havemercy says...
1:12pm Sun 21 Oct 12

havemercy wrote:
Do you have to see a left conspiracy in everything? Is it not just possible that, with the rise in the elderly population (due to good medicine/housing/nut rition etc) that we just need more beds?
I meant right wing!

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southy says...
1:19pm Sun 21 Oct 12

havemercy wrote:
havemercy wrote:
Do you have to see a left conspiracy in everything? Is it not just possible that, with the rise in the elderly population (due to good medicine/housing/nut rition etc) that we just need more beds?
I meant right wing!
The rise in elderly population do not mean they will be sick, many are not and do not end up in hospital.
What is happening is public money is ending up in the private sector, if not by first action then by secondry action

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Hdg end mo says...
2:56pm Sun 21 Oct 12

I visited a family member in hospital recently and also have a relative who works in sgh intensive care unit the hospital has plenty of beds available u only have to walk around the wards the biggest problem is not enough nurses to cover the wards more Nhs cutbacks mr Cameron and co are the ones to blame

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Vonnie says...
3:11pm Sun 21 Oct 12

The NHS in general is rapidly deteriorating into an emergency service only. And yes, hiving off services to the private sector and then hospitals and doctors paying through the nose to use them is part of the problem.

The main issue, however, is that no matter how clever you are with figures and juggling them around, you cannot realistically put a price on illness, or know in advance how many people will need to use NHS services, or which ones, at any given future point in time.
There are too many variables, and people are not ill to order. Those in power, of all political colours, have and are treating the NHS as a retail business and are trying to prophesy and foretell the future when they set budgets etc. in much the same way as a supermarket does.

As that is humanly impossible, and as such guesstimates are being shown to be useless at point of delivery, a new approach is needed, or better still, a return to the old one where social provision comes first.

Unlike a supermarket, the end result of making a mistake within the present budget system automatically adversely affects people's lives. Privatisation is not the answer, either. Not if you have any social conscience at all.

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arthur dalyrimple says...
3:24pm Sun 21 Oct 12

cuts ,cuts and more cuts,but taxes never go down ,child abuse in the care system will rise too and the idea for a amnesty for paedophiles to exspose the shocking child abuse that goes right to the top is a good one .

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mickey01 says...
3:26pm Sun 21 Oct 12

i wonder how many of our poor elderly patients have been moved to make way for the non speaking non tax paying grabbers that hve been all take and no give in this country

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Linesman says...
4:51pm Sun 21 Oct 12

southy wrote:
havemercy wrote:
havemercy wrote:
Do you have to see a left conspiracy in everything? Is it not just possible that, with the rise in the elderly population (due to good medicine/housing/nut rition etc) that we just need more beds?
I meant right wing!
The rise in elderly population do not mean they will be sick, many are not and do not end up in hospital.
What is happening is public money is ending up in the private sector, if not by first action then by secondry action
"Public money ending up in the private sector."

How can you say such a thing Southy!

That nice Mr Cameron promised us that the NHS would be safe in his hands.

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Inform Al says...
6:44pm Sun 21 Oct 12

It's interesting that the NHS set up by the Atlee Labour government was nurtered and flourished by the following Churchill Tory government. Every government since has alloweds it to degenerate. The first of the wordt was the Wilson government that allowed the Trade unions to push private medecine from NHS hospitals, despite Anaurin Bevan having stated when the NHS was set up that it could not survive financially without the input of money from private patients. He has been proved correct by subsequent financial problems. Unfortunately it is obvious that the Tories want to kill the NHS to enable C'morons rich friends to make more millions.

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Inform Al says...
6:47pm Sun 21 Oct 12

I wonder if now the elderly patients that are bussed from hospital back home to supported accommodation, apparently to make room for P heads at the weekend, will be able to stay in hospital until treatment is finished.

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sass says...
8:49pm Sun 21 Oct 12

mickey01 wrote:
i wonder how many of our poor elderly patients have been moved to make way for the non speaking non tax paying grabbers that hve been all take and no give in this country
Why would you discriminate against mutes?

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southy says...
1:11pm Mon 22 Oct 12

Linesman wrote:
southy wrote:
havemercy wrote:
havemercy wrote:
Do you have to see a left conspiracy in everything? Is it not just possible that, with the rise in the elderly population (due to good medicine/housing/nut rition etc) that we just need more beds?
I meant right wing!
The rise in elderly population do not mean they will be sick, many are not and do not end up in hospital.
What is happening is public money is ending up in the private sector, if not by first action then by secondry action
"Public money ending up in the private sector."

How can you say such a thing Southy!

That nice Mr Cameron promised us that the NHS would be safe in his hands.
Yes well Lines, I was one off those that was fighting the local govern body and the Labour Government when they was in power, to stop them closing down and selling of parts of the NHS to the private sector.
Like I said before Labour as joined the Tory ranks of privatation of our services.
Labour can not be trusted any more as much as you can not trust the Torys from doing the right thing.
And I do not believe in this lesser of the evils any more.

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cantthinkofone says...
9:05pm Thu 25 Oct 12

Hdg end mo wrote:
I visited a family member in hospital recently and also have a relative who works in sgh intensive care unit the hospital has plenty of beds available u only have to walk around the wards the biggest problem is not enough nurses to cover the wards more Nhs cutbacks mr Cameron and co are the ones to blame
Well yes.

When the NHS talk about a shortage of 'beds', it's nothing to do with the frame and mattress. If that was the case, they'd just buy some more. They may be more pricey than one from Argos, but it's small change compared to most medical devices.

A shortage of 'beds' is always about a shortage of staff to care for the patients in those beds. And it's not as simple as just hiring more nurses either. They're aren't enough of them in the UK. That's why the NHS is recruiting nurses from abroad.

Bear that in mind next time you hear someone complaining that their nurse had a 'funny accent'!

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