Accident &Emergency attendances in the week leading up to Christmas Day rose by almost 20 per cent compared to the same period last year. Across Scotland, 26,569 people visited A&E in the week ending 24th December, up almost 20% or over 4,000 attendances on the same week last year. NHS 24 also reported their busiest period in the service’s fifteen year history. Continue reading Full to bursting: Health services struggle to cope with 20% rise in numbers over Christmas
People should ’know who to turn to’ for health advice ahead of the New Year weekend. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith says it’s really important to know where to go for help over New Year, with seasonal illnesses such as flu and norovirus rising and further weather warnings for snow and ice that can lead to road accidents, slips and falls. Continue reading Staying safe over Hogmanay
Health Secretary Shona Robison has praised NHS and community staff dealing with significant extra demand during the Christmas period. Continue reading Health Secretary praises NHS staff
To ensure patient safety, the children’s short stay assessment unit at St John’s Hospital in Livingston will not open on the weekends before Christmas and New Year. The decision was taken as a result of ongoing staffing and recruitment issues which mean there are not enough doctors available to cover overnight and weekends, coupled with late notification of clinician unavailability.
Parents are not being asked to do anything differently. If they require health care or advice over the weekends, they should take the normal steps of calling NHS 24 on 111. They will either be directed to an out-of-hours GP or referred on to the most appropriate place.
Children will still be assessed and treated in the Emergency Department and a paediatric consultant will be available on call 24/7. If a child needs to be admitted to hospital, a transfer to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh will be arranged.
Maternity and neonatal services at the hospital are unaffected.
The short stay assessment unit will not open on December 23rd and 24th, however normal service will resume on December 25th, Christmas Day.
The same arrangements will apply the following weekend, with the unit not open on January 30th and 31st, before returning to normal on January 1st, New Year’s Day.
Jacquie Campbell, Chief Officer of Acute Services, NHS Lothian, said: “Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to reliably secure the levels of staffing required on the festive weekends to guarantee a safe service. The safety of our patients must be our top priority and for that reason the unit will not open. This is the safest option for the children of West Lothian and normal service will resume at the start of each week.”
NHS Lothian says it is working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS 24 and local GPs to ensure the provision of a safe and reliable service.
NHS Lothian is creating an innovative partnership with Scottish Government to help boost performance and improve patient care across the health board. The partnership, which will also work with the Edinburgh Integrated Board, is creating a Whole System Dynamic Review and Targeted Analysis at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to help tackle delayed discharge and waiting times.
The move comes as health boards across Scotland begin to suffer extreme winter pressures. Earlier this week NHS Lothian recorded the worst performance for A&E waiting time targets since the publication of weekly figures began almost three years ago.
The collapse in its figures follows last month’s admission by NHS Lothian that acute hospitals had been under-reporting waiting times. The latest weekly figures show just 77.3% of patients were dealt with within the four-hour target.
In an attempt to address this the new partnership, which will also work with the Edinburgh Integrated Board, is creating a Whole System Dynamic Review and Targeted Analysis, at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, to help tackle delayed discharge and waiting times.
Jim Crombie, Deputy Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said: “Like a number of other health boards, NHS Lothian is experiencing significant winter pressures across our whole healthcare system. There are a number of contributing factors, including the increasing complexity of cases presenting at emergency departments and significant numbers of delayed discharges.
“This new way of working will allow us to zoom in on processes and procedures, not just in the Emergency Department, but across the acute care system to help improve patient flow through our hospitals.”
The group will provide enhanced support and resources to analyse systems across the board in a bid to improve the patient journey through the hospital.
A set of Whole System Indicators will be created to help boost and measure performance and attainment.
Mr Crombie also reminded patients of the need to ensure they seek the right care, in the right place, at the right time for them. He added: “It could be that self care at home or a consultation with a pharmacist or GP is best when you are feeling under the weather or for many common illnesses.
“As the winter chills bite, so do the numbers of slips, trips and falls. But it is important to remember that these kind of injuries can be treated at the Minor Injuries Unit at the Western General Hospital, rather than a lifesaving emergency department.”
A £4.5m fund to help reduce both waiting times for assessments and delayed discharges in the capital has been approved by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB). The one-off allocation will support the work of the newly established assessment and review board to help alleviate the most urgent pressures and will also improve business processes.
Continue reading £4.5 million boost to tackle pressure on city’s health and social care
The Royal Hospital for Children and Young People has yet again been delayed till Autumn 2018. The project, which was originally meant to open in the winter 2012, was delayed until Autumn 2017, further delayed to Spring 2018 and is now to expected to open in Autumn 2018. Continue reading Another New Sick Kids opening delay “unacceptable” says Tory MSP
Tuesday 19 December – doors open 6.30pm
Community Open Day 12 noon – 3pm
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Ben Macpherson, has praised the staff working in our NHS who are helping to deliver the best-performing NHS in the UK ahead of the busy festive period after latest stats showed increased staffing levels that will help give patients the best possible care. Continue reading MSP praises NHS workforce as staffing rises to record levels
