Covid-19: Hospitals move to create extra bed capacity to relieve pressure
BMJ 2021; 375 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2775 (Published 12 November 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;375:n2775- Gareth Iacobucci
- The BMJ
NHS hospitals across the UK are creating extra bed capacity to relieve ongoing operational pressures from covid-19 and to tackle the growing backlog in elective care.
Reports are increasing of trusts being forced to cancel elective operations in the face of major pressure on services (box 1), and ongoing bed shortages are prompting some trusts to add more capacity.
Elective operations cancelled
Last week it was reported that most elective surgery had been cancelled at the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion in Edinburgh until March 2022 to allow staff to be redeployed to the nearby Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.1
Meanwhile, five hospitals in Leeds were reported to have cancelled most “priority 2” elective operations on Tuesday 2 November after a surge in numbers of patients with covid-19 and in the emergency department.2
In a statement Mark Liddington, medical director of operations for planned care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, confirmed that said some procedures “that are not assessed as clinically urgent” had been postponed but said “the situation has …
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