Nottingham’s main hospitals have successfully freed up around 100 hospital beds since a peak in patients earlier this year, but bosses warn “significant amounts” of corridor care could still be seen this winter.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) currently has around 100 fewer medically safe patients waiting more than a day to be discharged from hospital compared to a peak of around 250 at one point in January this year.
These are patients who clinically no longer need to be in hospital but cannot be discharged due to other factors.
This morning (12 November), there were 92 ‘medically safe’ patients waiting for discharge across the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital – between 50 and 100 fewer patients than at around the same time last year.
The reduction is helping patient flow through the hospital, resulting in shorter waiting times for those waiting to be seen in A&E and for a bed on a ward.
However, the Queen’s Medical Centre’s emergency department is the second-busiest in the country, with peak patient numbers reaching double the centre’s original capacity.
Throughout October 2023, A&E at the hospital saw roughly 687 people a day – despite the department originally being built to handle only 350 per day.
The increased pressure on hospitals during the winter months raises the risk of ‘corridor care’ – when patients are forced to wait on beds in corridors until they can be properly seen or admitted.
Today (Tuesday, 12 November), the Queen’s Medical Centre saw around 340 patients between midnight and 1 pm – some were waiting on trolleys in corridors.
As of 1 pm, there were 180 patients in A&E, with 30 of them in the majors unit – meaning they are significantly unwell. A further 22 were waiting for a bed in the hospital.
One patient had waited around 26 hours for a bed to become available on a ward.
Between 500 and 600 patients a day currently pass through QMC’s A&E, roughly similar to this time last year.
Dr Mark Simmonds, Deputy Medical Director at the hospitals trust, said: “We’re still seeing patients waiting far too long in our emergency department.
“If you were to come with a minor injury or illness, you may be waiting between eight and 12 hours when it’s extremely busy.
“We also have people waiting for a bed in our ED for longer than we would want.
“We recognise that if we don’t have flow through our hospitals, that results in ambulances not being able to offload patients at the front door.”
When asked if ‘corridor care’ was likely to be common again during this winter period, he responded: “Corridor care is something we don’t aspire to, but unfortunately the risk that we are describing this winter is that we may still have that problem.
“Unfortunately, patients may have extended delays, and we may end up with significant amounts of corridor care, but they will continue to get the care that they need.
“I want to reassure people that while you might find yourself not in a cubicle space, you will still receive the care that you need.”
The trust is opening two temporary wards to help with capacity over the winter period at QMC and City Hospital.
City Hospital’s ward will open for 17 weeks, and QMC’s ward for between four and six weeks, with both providing 28 beds.
The Trust is calling on the public to support their efforts to reduce corridor care and improve patient flow.
Dr Simmonds added: “We’re asking the people of Nottingham to support us and do their very best to use the NHS only when they need to – especially our emergency department.
“If you have a loved one in hospital, do your very best to work with us to ensure we can get the patient back home as soon as we possibly can.”
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