Mid and South Essex Partnership bulletin – update on system plans/preparedness
Dear Colleague,
A herculean effort to protect communities in mid and south Essex against COVID-19, as well as being there for those who need care urgently, continues.
Local NHS staff and volunteers are working tirelessly and around the clock, seven days a week, to meet the national mission to protect communities against the new Omicron variant while making sure they can continue to access urgent and emergency care.
While we are pleased to report fantastic progress in deploying over 200,000 booster vaccinations since 12 December, we are also seeing intense and growing pressure on all parts of the NHS and social care. It is anticipated that the coming weeks will be particularly challenging.
This newsletter provides an update on the current pressures, actions being taken and information about how you can help.
The local picture in health and social care
Health and social care services continue to see unprecedented demand. The reasons for the pressures include the ongoing impact of COVID-19, pressure on staffing and the needs for social care exceeding the available capacity to provide care for people away from hospital.
While winter pressures are normal at this time of year, rising numbers of local residents requiring hospitalisation for COVID and non-COVID-19 related conditions is creating a huge strain on the local health and care system.
Difficult decisions that will impact on local residents are already being taken such as restricting visiting at some of our health and care settings to keep everyone safe.
With NHS staff and care workers susceptible to infection in the same way as everyone else, it’s not just a matter of having enough beds – it’s also the staff to care for patients. Sickness rates remain high in every sector of health and social care with more and more care homes impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks meaning residents are sometimes getting stuck in hospital, using beds which are needed by others.
Local NHS teams are already working closely with councils, social care and hospices to support as many people as possible to be discharged safely from hospital, either to other local facilities or with support to recover in their own home.
There are, however, significant numbers of patients who are ready to be discharged but are delayed due to not having suitable accommodation to go to. This includes care homes and supported housing placements.
A co-ordinated approach across the health and care sector continues to be essential to ensure that plans are robust and that processes are in place that can adapt to the different pressures as and when they arise.
Together, the mid and south Essex health and care system is:
- Providing additional beds and resource to deal with a surge in demand.
- Redeploying staff so that they can focus on caring for patients that need them the most.
- Looking to secure a further 100,000 appointments in GP practices from December 21 through to March 22 as a result of additional funding.
These efforts will unfortunately have an impact on the delivery of some other services, with some planned operations and procedures likely to be postponed. Local teams will be contacting those affected. The most urgent operations, including those for cancer, will continue.
Nationally, GP teams have been asked to clinically prioritise their services to free up maximal capacity to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme, alongside delivering critical appointments such as cancer, urgent and emergency care.
GP services in mid and south Essex have undertaken nearly 1.2m COVID vaccinations since December 2020.
The NHS is also setting up new Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals across the country as part of preparations for a potential wave of Omicron admissions.
This includes the Lister Hospital in Stevenage for residents living in the East of England.
We hope the Nightingale surge hubs at hospitals will not have to be used but it is absolutely right that we prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity.
What can you do to help?
Please help us by sharing the below messages in our communities:
Support loved ones to leave hospital
Please collect loved ones from hospital as soon as they are ready to leave, either from the Emergency Department or from wards, to free up beds for patients needing emergency care. If you need help managing your loved ones at home, let us know and we will do all we can to support you.
Grab a jab
If eligible, make sure you do all you can to protect yourself this winter getting COVID-19 and flu jabs when invited. Make an appointment for a COVID-19 booster via the NHS national booking service online at nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or call 119 (free), between 7am and 11pm seven days a week or attend an available walk-in site or local pharmacy. A list of sites can be found at essexcovidvaccine.nhs.uk. These sites are updated regularly so please keep checking back for more locations. Please remind residents to try to cancel any unwanted appointments. Up to 50% of appointments are being missed.
GP and hospital services remain open
It is important to reassure people and make sure they are still accessing help if they need it. GP and hospital services remain open and if you need urgent or emergency medical help, this will always be available. It is important that you seek clinical advice if you have a worrying symptom, particularly if you suspect cancer.
The NHS continues to provide emergency care but people can help us to manage the pressure by thinking before going to hospital. If it’s not an emergency, think carefully about the best course of action, and use the NHS 111 online service or call 111 for advice and guidance on where best to access help.
Local pharmacists can offer medical advice on a range of conditions including coughs, colds, aches and pains, without needing an appointment. You can see a GP, nurse or other health professional on evenings, weekends and bank holidays. To book an appointment, call your GP practice in hours or NHS 111 out of hours and ask for an extended access appointment. Residents can sign up to receive winter health updates with useful information about services that can help them.
Follow national advice to reduce risk of infection
It’s really important for everyone to follow the government’s advice. The simple steps of Hands, Face, Space, as well as working from home if possible to reduce the infection rate.
It’s really important if you DO have symptoms, to isolate and get a test. You must also self-isolate if your test is positive. Follow the latest advice on the amount of time you have to isolate for.
Help us boost morale
Finally, we ask that you remember that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and keeping our residents safe both in care and in their own homes, is only possible thanks to the sheer hard work and dedication of our amazing teams and volunteers. Please be kind to them.
Kindest Regards
Anthony McKeever
Chief Executive Officer designate
Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System
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