Routine Procedures Were Cancelled At St Mary’s Hospital Last Week

Expert medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have raised concerns over the potential ‘ripple effect’ of cancelled routine operations at an Isle of Wight Hospital last week week due to severe pressures on the service.

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust reported that a significantly high number of patients had been admitted, and that coupled with ongoing difficulties in discharging patients had resulted in the decision to halt surgery last Thursday and focus on those who need immediate care.

The hospital said it was “finding it difficult to maintain business as usual” as it has limited bed capacity in the hospital and in the community to accommodate the volume of patients requiring care, as well as patients at the hospital who are medically stable but “cannot move out of the hospital for a number of reasons.”

Expert Opinion

“The Trust has reassured patients about the reasons behind this and that patients have not been put at risk. However, the impact on communities and patients can be significant when something like this happens, and can have a ripple effect on other services. For example, if a patient misses out on their scheduled surgery date, they may then have to go back on the waiting list for post-surgery therapies or check-ups which has the potential to delay diagnoses of any issues which may arise from surgery.

“Of course patient safety is key and it is important that people are given advice on how to seek medical assistance, including the telephone 111 service, while the hospital works to overcome the lack of resources.

“Local authorities should also be working strategically with their NHS Trusts to ensure that people who are safe to discharge can do so, to avoid hospitals being overwhelmed and surgical delays becoming a regular occurrence.” Nicole Jackson (née Causey) - Chartered Legal Executive

Between Wednesday, June 14 and Tuesday, June 20, 1,408 people phoned NHS 111 — a 13 per cent increase on the same week in 2016. And 952 people attended the emergency department in the last week — an 18 per cent increase on the same week last year.

There were 234 emergency admissions during the last week — a 4.5 per cent on the same week last year.