Doctors call for major incident as Queen Elizabeth University Hospital ‘unsafe’
British Broadcasting CorporationSenior doctors at a Glasgow hospital asked for a “significant incident” to be reported this week, but their request was refused, BBC News Scotland understands.
On Monday night, emergency medicine consultants described the situation at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) as “seriously” unsafe and that there was no space to admit new patients.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it had a “robust system” in place to cope with the additional pressures being imposed.
Last week, NHS Grampians declared a “serious incident” because Aberdeen Royal Hospital was at capacity.
Documents seen by BBC News Scotland say the entire hospital at Glasgow’s QUEH was “completely overwhelmed” on Monday night.
A patient with a broken hip was left waiting in the back of an ambulance for almost six hours due to a lack of capacity to deal with accidents and emergencies, emergency medicine consultants said.
Meanwhile, five ambulances are on the way and 19 more are expected to be sent to the hospital.
Documents say NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive Jane Grant held discussions about whether a major incident should be declared but were refused.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde says all its services are facing “considerable pressure” as the arrival of winter brings additional challenges.
The hospital board said in a statement: “QUEH’s A&E has been under particularly high pressure in recent days and we would like to apologize to those who have had to wait longer than expected.
“NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has a robust system of escalated policies in place to help alleviate the additional pressure, which were implemented yesterday.
“The possibility of declaring a major incident was raised during discussions about pressures on department and hospital capacity, but discussions did not proceed further given the mitigation measures already in place.”
What is a major event?
A major health-related incident is described as any event that poses a serious threat to community health.
it is defined in Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP) For: “An event or situation with a range of serious consequences that requires one or more emergency responders to implement special arrangements.”
This may cause disruption to services and require special arrangements to be put in place across multiple organizations including hospitals, ambulances and primary care trusts.
All hospitals must have plans in place in the event of a major incident. This could include measures such as canceling non-emergency procedures or diverting ambulances.
The Board of Health can also declare business continuity events and critical incidents.
last week, Grampians NHS says it has taken the “significant step” of announcing a major board event due to ongoing demands on Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).
Patients requiring immediate life-saving care are still being treated at ARI, but others are transferred to hospitals in Dundee and Elgin when deemed “clinically appropriate”.
Some elective procedures and appointments have also been postponed.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said “patient safety is paramount” following the major incident.
He added: “This ongoing pressure on services is not unique to Scotland, with similar challenges being felt across the UK.
“While Scotland still has the best-performing core A&E in the UK, performance is not up to the standards we expected.”
Scotland’s hospitals have come under increasing pressure in recent years.
Scotland “urgently needs” fundamental changes to the way NHS services are delivered to cope with growing demand, a review by Audit Scotland has said.
