THE Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) has projected that the number of Covid-19 patients in their hospitals could double in the next week as they continue to deal with “extreme pressures” at their hospitals .

At a briefing on Tuesday, the Director of Finance and Contracting, Neil Guckian, said that Covid patients had increased by almost 50 per cent in the past number of days, and it could get worse.

Throughout the briefing, it was emphasised just how much pressure was currently on the Western Trust.

“Our projections are indicating that from next week, numbers could double from one in four patients in our hospitals to double that amount. To have 40 per cent of all adult beds used for Covid is extremely challenging,” said Mr. Guckian.

To put that into context, Mr. Guckian compared the present situation to the first surge of the pandemic.

“From our first search, we had 140 admissions in our hospitals in the West. And from then on we’ve had 706. So clearly the Western Trust has been under intense pressure throughout this pandemic.”

1,300 staff off work

Whilst the Trust is under this pressure, more than 1,300 staff are unavailable for work – double the normal rate – and, significantly, this figure has risen by 250 in the last two to three weeks.

In the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), at the time of the briefing there were 35 positive Covid patients in the hospital, with two of those in intensive care.

The SWAH was currently at “extreme surge”, according to Director of Acute Services, Geraldine McKay, and they were working towards implementing their extreme surge plan to open additional Covid beds.

Emergency Department waiting times have increased with the number of people waiting more than 12 hours increasing and up to January 7, more than 200 patients had to wait for more than 12 hours.

“There is extreme pressure on our hospital system at this time,” said Mrs. McKay, who referred to the cancellation of some elective surgeries in the Trust last week.

Cancellations

These pressure may well lead to the cancellation of some cancer surgeries, said Mrs. McKay, adding: “We continue to provide cancer and red flag and time-critical procedures across our Trust, although these are being reviewed daily, given the extreme pressures on sites.

“I think it’s really important also to say that we may have no option in the coming weeks as the numbers increase that we may have to move to emergency and trauma services only as an indication that our hospitals are under extreme pressure.”

Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and oncology services are protected at this time and are running as normal.

Last weekend saw huge pressures on the entire health trust across Northern Ireland, leading to patients being diverted to the SWAH from the Southern Trust, and a call for off-duty staff to help try and ease the pressure.

118 per cent of capacity

Despite the SWAH operating at 118 per cent of its capacity on Tuesday, and having consistently been over capacity for the past number of weeks, the site was able to open up more beds over the weekend, and more are due to become available.

The response of the staff who made this possible was commended by the Director of Acute Services.

“The view from us was that we needed to support our neighbouring Trust, and we would do whatever we could to help at that time.

“So we got a great response from staff who were prepared to open and to staff those beds for a few days until we could resolve the issue of Southern Trust.

“All capacity is open that can be safely staffed at this moment in time. Even today, we’re moving to open additional Covid beds, given the pressures on the number of increasing positive patients,” added Mrs. McKay.