Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals "full to capacity" as a patient spends 70 hrs in the emergency dept

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Both Southport and Ormskirk hospitals have been extremely busy since the end of last week and we expect them to remain so for some days to come. This morning we put in place our 'full to capacity' protocols, focusing extra staff capacity on discharges and creating flow out of ED.

Many of the adult patients attending are acutely ill and have been quite rightly referred in, or brought here for the most appropriate care. However, the situation has been made worse by the exceptionally high number of inpatients who no longer need a hospital bed and last week's heatwave.

"I know community care capacity is an issue, but we need an extraordinary response ensuring we do all we can facilitating every potential discharge. Whatever your team or role, every bed matters. Each patient safely discharged counts, and we all have a part to play."

Medical Director Dr Kate Clark said: “Like hospitals across the country, we continue to be very busy as a result of increased admissions following last week’s hot weather, increased number of Covid-19 infections and delays in discharging patients who no longer need an acute bed. I apologise for any delay patients may experience when attending our hospitals.

“The Trust implemented our full-to-capacity protocol this morning which means we are focussing all available staff on patient care. We are working with our system partners to support patients to be safely cared for in their own homes when they do not need acute medical intervention.”