Patients treated in ambulances as cases of norovirus surge to record levels

Photo: MEN

Dozens of sick patients were treated in a hospital care park after hospitals in Manchester were overwhelmed with norovirus cases, it has emerged.

Bosses say they have been so overwhelmed by people suffering from sickness bugs that paramedics were forced to care for 999 patients and ambulances stacked up outside hospitals.

Ambulances were left queuing outside several hospitals in Greater Manchester – including Wythenhsawe Hospital, Pennine Acute Trust’s North Manchester General, Royal Oldham, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital in Bury – as the norovirus crisis hit the region.

At the height of the problems, Tameside Hospital’s A&E unit was so overwhelmed that, 113 ambulance patients waited more than half an hour before they could be admitted to hospital between December 20 and 30.

At Tameside ambulances queued in loading bays and paramedics had to care for them in waiting areas until overstretched hospital staff were able to care for them.

Medics also struggled to find space for everyone who needed to be admitted – with every one of the 485 beds at Tameside Hospital full on December 30.

A spokeswoman for Tameside Hospital said: “Like many other hospitals across the country, we have experienced unusually high levels of patients requiring hospital treatment.

“Many of our patients have been seriously ill arriving at the hospital by ambulance. This increased demand from our local population was not linked to any specific issues, such as norovirus, but to a wide variety of complex health problems.

“The hospital is working with Tameside Clinical Commissioning Group and Social Services to look at the underlying issues.”

Ambulances were also left queueing at Pennine Acute Trust Hospitals, which covers North Manchester General, the Royal Oldham, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital in Bury.

Figures, which have just been released by the department of health, show that 35 ambulances were left queuing at Greater Manchester hospitals between December 28 and 30; 54 on December 27; 238 between December 22 to 27 and 67 on December 21.

On December 30, there were 180 beds closed across Greater Manchester due to diarrhoea and vomiting bugs, including norovirus.

The figures show that Royal Bolton Hospital had just 19 beds available on December 30.

And more than 100 beds – a fifth of all those available – had to be closed off at North Manchester General because of norovirus and other sickness bugs. The hospital restricted also visiting over this period but visiting hours have now returned to normal.

 

The Telegraph has the full article

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