Emergency departments are asking the public not to get drunk or get hurt on New Year’s Eve as a skyrocketing number of Covid and flu patients, combined with rising sickness among staff, is throwing NHS funds into ‘chaos’.
The Ambulance Trusts will send additional staff this weekend, but reminded people that all of the alcohol-related calls prevented paramedics from dealing with people in life-threatening situations who had to wait longer for help.
A leading health expert said anyone with a cough or other symptoms should avoid parties to minimize the spread of the virus as hospitals brace for a new wave of patients.
Deepak Dwarakanath, medical director of North Tees University Hospital, said: “Every New Year’s Eve, our colleagues in the emergency room see it all: sprained ankles, broken bones, cleft lips, forehead cuts and alcohol poisoning. Not to mention the people who are brought in after the fight.
“We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but we ask everyone not to increase our pressure on New Year’s Eve by hurting themselves or others because of drinking too much. Indeed, how to imagine being in the hospital after a good New Year’s Eve?
The London Ambulance Service said it expected to receive more than 8,000 emergency calls on New Year’s Day as demand picked up after midnight. On a typical busy day before the pandemic, 999 control rooms would receive about 5,500 calls.
Alex Ewings, deputy chief of emergency services, said: “We have already been very busy this winter. Every avoidable alcohol-related call means that another patient with a potentially life-threatening condition will have to wait longer and potentially be harmed.
The warnings come after the latest figures from NHS England released on Friday show hospitals are already grappling with an 80 per cent rise in flu cases. Last week, an average of 3,746 flu patients were in bed every day, up from 2,088 a week earlier. Then, in December last year, only 34 people were hospitalized with the flu.
The number of hospital patients in England who tested positive for Covid on 28 December was 9,459, up 9% from the previous week and the highest number since 24 October. cents per month on average from 5,448 per day for the seven days ending Nov. 27 to 8,029 last week. The total number of cases rose 20 percent from 52,556 at the end of November to 63,296 a day last week, exacerbating a record high labor shortage.
Saffron Corderi, Acting Director of NHS Providers, said: “This has implications for the entire system, including ambulances, hospital emergency departments, mental health services and community services. The staff is working hard in a very difficult environment to minimize inconvenience to patients.”
Emergency teams on Saturday urged the public to act responsibly as they struggle to deal with the extreme pressure.
The doctor said Matthew Lee of local lobbying group Doctors’ Association UK. I: “The Christmas season was completely chaotic. I don’t think anyone has seen anything like it and I think the pattern is the same across the UK.
“The sheer number of patients is completely unforgiving. We had a lot more hospital admissions than on a ‘normal’ day, even if there were empty seats, we still wouldn’t be able to treat all the patients.”
Dr Lee, a trainee doctor who waited a week at his hospital in Wales, said some people waited until Christmas before receiving medical attention. A “twindemic” of Covid and flu, along with other respiratory viruses, would also “turn off” many trusts, he said.
“Employee illness is also a real problem. More than half of our duty team, myself included, fell ill at one point this week. Many patients we see are waiting for an ambulance for more than 12 hours, up to 14-15 hours in an ambulance. [due to handover delays]. It’s just demoralizing. Then, finally, they are carried indoors and placed in a corridor, perhaps next to a wide-open door into which the cold winter wind blows. We just can’t give patients the care we want.”
Hospitals in Leicester, Northampton and Kettering last reported critical incidents on Friday, urging people not to call 999 unless absolutely necessary as patients cannot be discharged for further treatment.
University Hospitals Trust Leicester said the cause was “a difficult situation with the transfer of ambulances.” A spokesman for Northampton General Hospital and the Kettering General Hospital Foundation said the health service is experiencing “one of the harshest winters in its history.”
Dr. Nick Scriven, former president of the Society for Emergency Medicine, said: I: “The NHS emergency response system is under pressure like never before as countless hospitals and services report critical incidents. It is the culmination of months of mounting fighting, exacerbated by more people with the flu requiring hospitalization, as well as a spike in Covid cases.
“Hospital staff are making efforts to return to heroic deeds, but going beyond the norm so much that, given the circumstances, they work miracles. However, limits are being reached and we must now see further action from the government, NHS leadership and the public at large.
Dr. Scriven urged people to “think hard” about whether they really need emergency care in the coming days. He also said: “I would also advise people with symptoms that could be flu or Covid to be aware of the potential risks and consider abstaining from social gatherings to keep the spread of the virus to a minimum.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powys, National Medical Director of the NHS, said: “In addition to influenza, the NHS continues to be under a lot of pressure due to high bed occupancy, over 12,000 beds occupied by patients eligible for medical discharge and demand for those 111 patients. remains high, so use 111 online whenever possible and only call 999 or contact the emergency center in an emergency.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.