NHS resumes elective work in North West hospitals

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Senior NHS leaders have paid tribute to the hard work of front-line NHS teams over the past month, as the decision has been taken to resume more of the normal elective work in hospitals across the North West from today (Tuesday 18 January 2011).

The decision was taken at the end of December to temporarily postpone all non-urgent, non-life-threatening elective surgery, to make sure that hospitals had enough critical care beds to deal with a spike in the number of people being admitted with complications due to flu.

Jane Cummings, the chief nurse for the North West is based at NHS North West. She said: “The response of clinical teams, from GPs and primary care staff, to those working in hospitals and as part of our ambulance service has been amazing. This winter has been particularly tough and teams have been extremely flexible – putting in long hours, working in different areas and even different hospitals – to ensure that people who need emergency treatment get it. We plan for increases in activity every winter – but without the support and understanding of NHS staff, it wouldn’t work.”

“I would also like to thank the public for their support and understanding at this difficult time,” Ms Cummings added. “We will do all we can to ensure that those appointments that had to be postponed are re-scheduled as soon as possible.”

It is assumed that this will be a phased return and that individual organisations will make their decision on the amount of work resumed, based on their local circumstances in liaison with their medical director.

Some cases of elective cardiac treatment that require specialist critical care are still on hold, although this is a small number of patients, as hospitals are expected to continue to support advanced respiratory centres and the ECMO beds at University Hospitals South Manchester. More cardiac work is however being re-scheduled on a case-by-case basis.

Ms Cummings repeated the message that those who are entitled to a free flu jab because they are in an “at risk” group should take up the offer.

“It is still important that those people who are at risk of complications get themselves vaccinated. I’d also like to repeat the message that if you are a normally health adult and you have a common complaint such as a cold, the flu, a stomach upset or backache for example, self-treatment is the best option – we need our clinical teams to concentrate on those patients who are seriously ill.”

Critical care capacity remains tight in pockets across the region and it is expected that teams will continue to work with the Critical Care Networks and NHS North West to monitor critical care capacity and take any necessary action

There are a number of useful websites with information about how to self-treat for common complaints - including flu - such as www.nhs.uk, www.northwest.nhs.uk/choosewell and a series of short-films giving advice are available at www.youtube.com/nwnhs