Southampton hospital beds almost full, warns NHS trust

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) currently has a bed occupancy rate above 90%.

It runs Southampton General; Princess Anne; Southampton Children's Hospital; New Forest Birth Centre; Royal South Hants Hospital; and Lymington New Forest Hospital.

University Hospital Southampton

A spokesperson for UHS said: “The Trust remains extremely busy and our bed occupancy is currently at above 90%, with staff working tirelessly to deal with an increase in emergency demand, caring for Covid patients and managing our planned waiting list backlogs.

“In addition to this we also care for a number of patients across the south of England as a regional centre for specialist services and it is testament to the work of our staff that we have not transferred any patients out of our of region for treatment despite the challenges we face.”

Official NHS data shows that between July and September, the Trust saw a surge in bed occupancy.

During this period, 79.9% of all hospital beds were occupied, with 81.3% used to treat sick people, and 54% for maternity services.

Royston Smith, MP for Southampton Itchen, said that although demand is high, the trust is "coping well".

He told the Echo: "I talked to the chief executive of University Hospital Southampton last week and we discussed capacity.

"They have concerns about bed occupancy, but they are coping well. That said, with the emergence of the Omicron variant we must all remain cautious and follow the guidance."

Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, says the NHS has been underfunded, leading to such troubles.

Alan Whitehead - UK Parliament official portraits 2017.

"It is worrying that UHS is so stretched at the moment as we are facing a difficult winter," he said.

"The NHS unfortunately has been underfunded over the last 10 years of a Conservative government which has made it less able to deal with busy winters at the best of times, never mind in the midst of a pandemic.

"More and more people have been contacting me recently about waiting a long time for routine appointments and operations and not doubt this will get worse as winter progresses."