'Winter pressures' taking toll on Burnley and Blackburn hospitals

As the colder weather takes its toll on the health of the nation, we have looked into how well East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is coping with winter pressures.

During winter, NHS England publishes weekly reports which give insight into how well hospital trusts are managing – looking at ambulance delays, bed occupancy and long stays in hospitals.

How did East Lancashire Hospitals Trust handle the week from February 10th to 16th?

Ambulance waits:

• Last week, 846 patients were brought by ambulance to A&E at the trust. The busiest day was Thursday, when 137 patients arrived.

• Over the week, 69 arrivals waited 30 minutes or more to be transferred to the emergency department – despite NHS guidelines saying all patients should be transferred within 15 minutes.

• The number of people arriving by ambulance last week was an increase on the previous seven days, when 781 were recorded.

Bed availability:

• General and acute wards at the trust were 92.3% full on average last week – above the 85% rate the British Medical Association suggests should not be exceeded to ensure safe patient care.

• The occupancy rate was slightly higher than the 91.7% recorded the previous week.

• Above 92%, NHS Improvement says that deterioration in A&E performance begins to accelerate.

• East Lancashire Hospitals Trust was more than 92% full on three days last week, and more than 85% full every day.

• On average, the trust had 961 beds available to use each day last week, including 36 escalation beds, which are used in emergencies and periods of high demand. Altogether, 74 beds were free on an average day.

Long-stay patients:

• As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, hospital staff are being encouraged to reduce lengthy hospital stays for patients recovering from an operation or illness. NHS England says the move is aimed at improving care options and freeing up 7,000 beds nationally – the equivalent of 15 large hospitals.

• On Sunday, 418 patients had been in hospital for seven days or more at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust. They accounted for 48% of all beds occupied.

• Occupying 19% of beds, 165 patients had been in hospital for three weeks or longer.

Tony McDonald, director of Operations at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Twenty-four hours day, seven days a week our dedicated staff work incredibly hard to treat large numbers of patients.

“The latest statistics released by NHS England confirm what we already know – that demand for NHS services is at a record level but the patients and public of East Lancashire can be assured that we have a comprehensive plan to deal with those pressures.

“Our Winter Plan – rolled out in partnership with health and social care partners across East Lancashire - is making a real difference. The plan includes the opening of a new 35-bed Emergency Surgical Unit at the Royal Blackburn to speed up admission for surgical patients.

"We are also reducing the number of delayed hospital discharges and the average length of stay for inpatients. In addition, next month our latest group of newly-qualified nurses starts work at the Trust which will add to the record number of nursing staff already on duty on our wards, clinics and community services.”