Critical incidents have been declared at Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals, following a surge in inpatients – many due to a flu outbreak requiring admissions
The four University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s hospitals (clockwise from top left) Queen Elizabeth, Good Hope, Solihull and Heartlands
A trust responsible for three hospitals in Birmingham and another in Solihull has declared a ‘critica; incident’ this evening.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation trust has declared the incident after its hospitals have been suffering ‘extreme pressures’.
The Trust which runs Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Selly Oaks, Heartlands in Bordesley, Good Hope Hospital in Sutton ColdfIeld and also Solihull Hospital has said its sites are seeing ‘significant and sustained’ pressure as winter approached.
Read more: Hospitals declare ‘critical incident’ as trust urges patients to ‘think’
The Trust has declared the ‘critical incident’ in part due to an influx of flu patients.
It says some 269 patients with flu have had to be admitted across its four sites.
It has also introduced mask-wearing in all its clinical departments in a bid to stop the spread of flu.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham(Image: Google)
Waiting times at A&Es were rocketing, with at the time of publication, the longest wait being at Heartland’s A&E of 9 hours and 16 minutes. Good Hope’s wait time was 7 hours 40 minutes, Solihull Hospital’s at 5 hours 38 minutes and Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s emergency department wait at 3 hours and 50 minutes.
In posts on each of the four hospitals’ social media channels, UHB has said: “Urgent message for local patients.
“Due to the extreme pressures in our emergency department, demand for beds and numbers of patients with flu, we have declared a critical incident.
“Please consider other services for any minor healthcare needs.
- Urgent Treatment Centres – accessed via NHS111;
- Pharmacy First – local pharmacies can provide advice, guidance and medication for common conditions;
- NHS111 – phone or go online to be directed to the best place for you or
- GP Practice.”
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The Trust also posted on its website and said: “Despite expanding capacity in our wards and in our emergency departments, our emergency departments (A&Es) remain overcrowded with extended waits to be seen.
“We are asking the communities we serve to think carefully about how they access healthcare – if you do not have an emergency or life-threatening condition you may be redirected to another healthcare service such as a pharmacy or NHS 111.
“Patients are advised to continue to planned appointments as normal unless told otherwise.”