Your local hospital Trust needs your help this winter

Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, which runs the hospital, saw double the number of patients it was designed to care for at any one time in its Emergency Department earlier this week, after a combination of factors resulted in extra pressure on its services.

A vital part of easing pressures on the Emergency Department is ensuring that patients are discharged from hospital in a timely way as soon as they have received the treatment they need. This helps to free-up beds elsewhere across the inpatient sites for patients needing to be admitted from the Trust's Emergency Department.

Data revealed that 52 of the Trust's 716 adult inpatient beds across King’s Mill, Mansfield and Newark hospitals are currently occupied by people who are medically fit to be discharged to wherever they call home - including their own homes and local care facilities.

Janine Foxhall, the Trust's Associate Director of Operations (Urgent and Emergency Care), said: “There is huge demand for NHS services across the county right now. Our hardworking staff are going to extraordinary lengths every day to be there for the patients they care for.

“We know our hospitals are the perfect place to receive vital medical attention when we really need it, but they simply aren’t the best place for patients to continue their recovery once they have received the attention they need.

There are simple things that family members can do to ensure their loved ones are ready to return home and a timely discharge will make all the difference to both the hospital services and the recovery of the patient."

Janine continued: “Making every hospital bed count is key for our NHS this winter”.

"Patients staying in hospital longer than they need are at risk of becoming more physically unwell and delaying their recovery, as well as catching viruses that circulate more at this time of year — including flu, Coronavirus and Norovirus.

“We all have a part to play in supporting our NHS this winter and what we really need local people to do is support their friends, relatives and loved ones to leave hospital as soon as they have received the vital care they need.

"This could be as simple as ensuring that they are supported to travel home as soon as they are ready to leave hospital or that they have food in the fridge, or the heating switched on for when they arrive. This will make all the difference in helping them to return to wherever they call home, getting them back to doing what they love."

The Trust has a dedicated Transfer of Care Hub at King’s Mill Hospital, where a number of partner organisations work together under one roof to ensure patients are ready to be discharged with everything they need in place, including by arranging out-of-hospital care.

Earlier this year, the Trust also opened its dedicated Discharge Lounge at King's Mill Hospital — which now opens 24 hours a day, seven days a week — to help free-up beds across the Trust.

Patients are reminded to only call 999 or attend Emergency Departments if it is for treatment for a serious injury or genuine emergency.

If urgent medical attention is needed but it isn’t an emergency, support is available by calling NHS 111 or visiting NHS 111 online. Many ailments can be addressed by visiting a GP and help is also available at pharmacies, who offer over-the-counter advice and treat common illnesses such as colds, sore throats, stings and allergies.