Carers concerned as PEH says its beds almost full
CARERS are alarmed by a plea from health bosses to keep non-essential cases out of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital as it runs close to capacity with only a few available beds left.
Capacity was at 96% yesterday and was predicted to rise to 98%, with some elective procedures being postponed.
The pressures were put down to a variety of emergency admissions, including mental health cases, pneumonia, cardiac problems, strokes, frailty, falls at home, and urinary tract infections.
Peter Harwood, the chairman of Carers Guernsey, said the responsibility would fall on informal unpaid carers, who were already under strain.
‘It will alarm a lot of carers because [they] fully emerge when there’s a crisis with their loved one, and if the cared for can’t get into hospital then the burden does fall back on the carer.’
‘The concern we have is that when the crisis arises carers may well be in full-time employment and will have to be released from employment or go onto reduced hours in order to provide the level of care that is required.
‘There is a huge issue, and it’s an issue that we’ve highlighted for two or three years now – we need to value the support that is given by the informal, unpaid carers on this island.’
There are 13 patients in the PEH because they are awaiting either packages of care or States rates care home beds.
In addition, the transfer of Les Bourgs Hospice patients to the PEH has added to the challenges.
Staff in acute service areas and community care are planning for how hospital stays can be minimised by urging people to seek medical attention promptly, as well as encouraging in-patients to feel confident about leaving hospital as soon as they are advised to.
Dermot Mullin, the director of hospital and adult community services, said they wanted to embed a ‘home first’ mind set.
‘If you are told it is safe for you to be discharged, then we are asking you and your family to make every effort to get you home.
‘Prolonged stays in hospital can be unnecessarily detrimental to your health due to sleep deprivation, increased risk of falls or infection among many other things.’
Staff have stressed that they would never discharge someone if it was not safe to do so.
Nevertheless, the urgent need for increased capacity has underlined the requirement for the ongoing programme to modernise and upgrade the PEH.
Jan Coleman, the director of hospital modernisation, said areas of clinical risk would worsen if left unresolved.
‘The current capacity issues demonstrate that the hospital can’t meet today’s demand, let alone be fit for the future with an ageing population.’
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