Emergency care will be the biggest issue for local hospitals this winter as hundreds of patients are unable to be discharged from hospital, NHS leaders have said. Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust currently has 172 patients who are medically fit for discharge but cannot leave the trust due to social care pressures, bosses told a board meeting on November 24.
In September, NUH declared its second critical incident in three months after identifying 213 patients who were ‘medically fit for discharge’ at the time. It meant some patients had operations cancelled.
Chair of the trust’s board Nick Carver said during the meeting: “The most challenging situation we face is the emergency care situation this winter. To some extent, we make that more difficult. For example, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) would say we’re a good partner, we take their patients in rather than keeping ambulances waiting.
