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A&E facing “significant pressure”
31/12/2022
Patients are currently facing very long waits
“Please only use our emergency departments in an emergency”: that’s the message from the team in charge at our local hospitals.
They say that the Emergency Departments at the Horton General and other hospitals in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) area are under significant pressure and patients are facing very long waits.
Rachael Corser, Chief Nursing Officer at the BOB Integrated Care Board said: “We want to keep as many frontline clinicians available to treat people who are ill and need help urgently. So please help us by ensuring you do whatever you can to reduce the pressure on our services.
“Our focus is on making sure patients are safe and that critical services keep running. All partners in the NHS, social care and our voluntary organisations are working together so people who need to come into hospital can be admitted safely, and people who are medically fit to leave can be discharged safely.
“We are monitoring this situation very closely and as always we remain committed to providing the best possible care for patients. Thank you for your support and understanding at this challenging time.”
A personal message has been sent to all Oxford University Hospitals staff by Sara Randall (Chief Operating Officer), Sam Foster (Chief Nursing Officer) and Dr Andrew Brent (Deputy Chief Medical Officer). They said: “We are working closely with our health and social care partners to enable as many safe discharges from our hospitals as possible, so that patients who are medically fit to leave hospital are able to do so.
“We would like to remind you all about the support for your wellbeing that is available to you. We know that this is a particularly stressful period, and there are resources available to support your physical and mental wellbeing. Thank you for caring for our patients and for each other as members of our OneTeamOneOUH.”
We are told we can help alleviate the problem by only calling 999 in the event of a serious or life-threatening emergency. Instead use the 111.nhs.uk website or call 111 for urgent medical help where we are not sure what to do.
Local Pharmacy services can help with a range of minor health issues including colds, skin problems and earaches.
Anyone who has family or loved ones in hospital is asked to be ready to collect them as soon as they are medically well enough to leave.
The overarching message is not to go to an Emergency Department unless it is a genuine emergency.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam