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12
Jan 2021
Nurses ‘at breaking point’ as patients wait longer than 24 hours for a bed in London’s busiest hospital
Patients at one of London’s busiest hospitals are waiting longer than 24 hours for a bed as A&E doctors, said to be at “breaking point”, urged bosses to declare a major incident.
The number of coronavirus patients at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel has increased by 200 in days. The situation reached a crisis point on Sunday evening when the hospital was forced to open a new ward and treat adult patients in a paediatric ward. Management stopped short of declaring a major incident.
Frontline staff at the hospital described ambulances queuing for hours outside A&E and some patients travelling to the hospital by taxi after waiting for an ambulance for hours.
Several major incident appeals were sent out to staff to come in on Sunday and Monday, and consultants were urged to review patients for discharge as dozens of patients waited for beds to become free.
Earlier this week, the Barts Health NHS Trust confirmed it was treating 638 Covid patients, an increase of 200 from Christmas Eve. It also sent a reminder to staff about the need to reduce oxygen use amid concerns over the ability of pipes to deliver the volume of oxygen needed in hospitals.
A number of trusts have issued warnings to staff over concerns that the demand could cause the oxygen systems to cut out.
In a statement the trust said “We are treating very high numbers of patients with Covid-19 across our hospitals, and in line with our winter escalation plan, we have moved into a ‘very high pressure’ phase and are taking steps to keep our patients safe.”
Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events. Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.
If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.
Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Freephone : 0800 304 7382
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