BLACKPOOL Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has outlined its plans to maximise its capacity to deal with an expected increase in COVID–19 patients.
This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement this week which explained that, as a country, we need to be prepared for unprecedented pressure across our health services.
Dr Jim Gardner, Medical Director, said: “As the Chief Medical Officer has stated, NHS services are likely to come under intense pressure as the coronavirus spreads, and we need to ensure we have as many beds available as possible to care for patients with severe respiratory problems when the number of infections peaks.
Jim Gardner, Medical Director
“Therefore every hospital in England has now been asked to suspend all non-urgent elective operations from 15 April for at least three months, with some other procedures likely to be rescheduled before then so we can train our staff and adapt certain areas.
“We are now working through a plan to implement this with our clinical staff in a planned way in the coming weeks. Urgent and emergency cases and cancer treatments will be carrying on as normal, but we know many people waiting for treatment will be disappointed or worried, and we will be contacting everyone affected as soon as possible. We ask that you please do not call us unless it is urgent.
“We are doing as much as we can to provide the best care possible to our patients at this unprecedented time.”