‘Challenged’ trust plans to move patients to chairs to free up beds

An acute trust in the Midlands is planning to move patients to chairs on wards to free up beds for people waiting in its emergency department, following one of its “most challenged” days.

In an email sent to staff at Nottingham University Hospitals on Tuesday, interim chief operating officer Rachel Eddie and chief medical officer Keith Girling wrote: “We are asking wards to transfer [patients confirmed as ready for discharge] to the discharge lounge, or if that isn’t possible, move them to a chair on the ward so that a patient waiting for a bed in ED or in an emergency pathway assessment area can be brought up.”

“This is referred to as going ‘one over’,” the email added. “We will ensure that on each ward that has been designated as being able to go ‘one over’, a chair has been added to their Nervecentre ward layout so patients are all visible.”

The email describes how Monday was one of the “most challenged Mondays we have seen” and confirmed the trust remains in ‘Opel 4’, the most severe level of operational pressure.

It also said nursing staff have “shared concerns” about the amount of time they are able to spend with their patients.

“This does mean that at times you will be asked to work at a higher patient to nurse ratio than we would like,” the email said. “We know this isn’t where any of us want to be, but it is unfortunately the reality of balancing risk.”

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Source: HSJ, 1 December 2021