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Hello,
As many of you will know, we are experiencing a prolonged and intense period of pressure which saw us enter Business Continuity measures this week. I want to start by thanking everyone who has helped us respond to this, including clinical and non-clinical colleagues, for coming together to care for our patients, support their colleagues and safely discharge patients.
We are seeing very high numbers of patients attending our Emergency Department and more ambulances than is usual at this time of year. And with around 120 patients well enough to leave us but awaiting out-of-hospital support, this means that large numbers of patients are waiting much longer than any of us would like to be admitted to a ward.
I know this is an incredibly difficult time, and we are likely to face many more challenges ahead this winter, including next week when our junior doctors join their colleagues across England in taking industrial action. This will be for three days from 7am on Wednesday 20 December, with a second strike planned for six days from 7am on Wednesday 3 January.
We will continue to work closely with our local and regional system colleagues to find ways to alleviate the pressure, and we must ensure we are doing all we can to minimise delays by taking early action to admit and safely discharge patients.
Next week's ‘Home for Christmas’ multi-agency discharge event will go some way towards improving flow and out-of-hospital capacity, so that patients can spend the festive period at home with their loved ones. As part of this event, intensive board rounds are taking place on all general and acute wards, and to support this, I urge colleagues to follow the important associated actions that can make a real difference.
- Ensure early board rounds take place on all wards to support discharge
- Plan ahead for patient discharges using accurate estimated discharge date (EDD) and ensure these are updated in real time with clear clinical criteria for discharge
- Start electronic discharge notices (EDN) sooner to avoid delays
- Escalate any delays early by attending the site office or bleeping them on 595 or 652
- Consider virtual ward and hot clinics instead of admission
- Escalate any inpatients waiting for diagnostics or medications
- Ensure all patient electronic wristbands are returned to the TeleTracking drop boxes on each ward to speed up bed turnaround.
- Prioritise Pathway 0 and 1 discharges
A special milestone for Rosie
 I was so proud to join our colleague Rosie Felton at a special event this week to mark her 50th anniversary of working in the NHS.
Rosie, who works in the Sunderland Day Case Centre as Clinical Sister, started her nursing training on 10 December 1973 in her home county of Northumberland, before moving to Medway in 1976. She has since spent the last 47 years working with us in a variety of roles, including at our former sites St Bartholomew's and All Saints' hospitals, and as a Urology Nurse Specialist.
Rosie is a real inspiration, and I know that her knowledge and experience proves invaluable to colleagues and patients every day. We are so thankful for the years of commitment Rosie has shown to the NHS. Please join me in congratulating Rosie on her incredible achievement and take a moment to watch the lovely video of her reflecting on her 50 years of nursing on The Clock Tower!
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