Pressure forces pause of non-urgent surgeries

The hospital has been at capacity for the past two weeks

Non-urgent elective surgeries have been postponed at Princess Elizabeth Hospital, because it is full.

The States of Guernsey said the hospital's 113 beds had been at capacity for the past fortnight.

One cancer surgery has been postponed as well as 19 other elective surgeries, it said.

An update would be provided "as the situation improves", the Health and Social Care Committee (HSC) said.

'Worked tirelessly'

The Health and Social Care Committee (HSC) initially said cancer and emergency operations were "excluded", but one cancer surgery had to be postponed on Wednesday due to the lack of a critical care bed.

It later said cancer and emergency operations would be "prioritised".

"HSC recognises it is always disappointing when elective surgery has to be postponed and apologises for the impact this has on individuals and their families," a spokesman said.

"There is no single factor impacting on acute care and it is a seasonal issue with demand outstripping available capacity.

"Teams have worked tirelessly to minimise the numbers of postponed elective surgery."

HSC said the De Havilland ward - which is ordinarily reserved for orthopaedic patients - was being used for other surgical patients.

It said temporary beds, called "flex beds", were also in use but they were only a short-term solution.