Hospital admits patient care is being compromised as cancer operations delayed

Cancer operations at one of England’s largest hospital trusts are being delayed as bosses admit patient care on wards is being compromised.

Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has been forced to convert one of its few remaining wards for cancer surgery patients into an emergency medical ward to cope with an influx of patients.

The Independent understands the trust’s A&E department is regularly overcrowded with 40 or more patients waiting for a bed at the start of most days.

In a leaked message to staff sent on Friday and shared with The Independent, bosses at the hospital said the trust was facing an “exceptionally difficult time” which was “probably the most challenging position we have been in since the pandemic began”.

It added: “There is no doubt that we are having to compromise the quality of care we are providing to some patients to ensure that we are able to maintain a service for the whole population.”

“Our emergency department is over capacity continuously, which means that patients are waiting for extended periods on trolleys with little privacy and dignity because they do not have a bed to go to. We are having to make difficult decisions every day as to whether we can proceed with cancer and urgent operations and we are not able to tell some patients when they will get their operation."

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Source: The Independent, 13 September 2021