West's hospitals brace themselves for busiest-ever winter

The West's hospitals are bracing themselves for what could be the NHS's busiest-ever winter. With a serious flu epidemic possible, and ever-rising patient numbers, local Accident and Emergency departments (A&Es) are likely to face severe pressure.

Although winter tends to see a small rise in A&E patient numbers (around 5%), more of these patients require hospital admittance. Many of them will be elderly with serious respiratory infections like pneumonia, brought on by cold temperatures; the NHS advises older and disabled people to heat their homes to at least 18c, including at night, to lower the risk of infection.

At really busy times, A&Es have to put patients in corridors. Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) has introduced a patient safety check-list of vital assessments, so staff can make sure no one slips through the net, no matter how busy A&E gets. National NHS bosses are now recommending all hospitals introduce a similar system.

BRI A&E Matron Johanna Lloyd-Rees explains how busy winter can get:

At Yeovil District Hospital, they use an Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit to treat patients needing emergency same-day help, but who don't need a bed while waiting, and who can safely go home at night. This frees up beds for more complex emergency cases coming in via A&E.

Here's Yeovil's Deputy Director of Nursing, Jo Howarth, on how the hospital tries to move patients along as efficiently as possible:

Bristol Royal Infirmary has also put a dedicated pharmacist in its Patient Discharge Lounge to speed up the dispensing of medicines for patients ready to leave.

Sarah-Jayne Knowles, Lead Nurse in the BRI Discharge Lounge, explains how the system aims to free up beds all over the hospital:

A significant challenge for hospitals is the number of patients coming to A&E unnecessarily. They stress that A&E is only for life-threatening emergencies, and that patients will be seen according to need, not time of arrival.

The waiting time in Minor Injuries Units is generally shorter (nearly always under four hours), and the NHS recommends them for people with broken bones, sprains, animal bites, wound infections and other non-life-threatening injuries and conditions.

The NHS is also encouraging people to turn to pharmacies for minor issues, rather than automatically going to their GP surgery.

If you're unsure which service is appropriate in your case, ring the NHS's free 111 helpline for advice.

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