Number of Hull hospital 'bed blockers' more than doubles

Hull Royal Infirmary was the worst in England for A&E waits in the December-January period, BBC analysis shows

Around a fifth of hospital beds in Hull are currently occupied by patients waiting to be discharged, councillors have heard.

In December 2022, the number of patients waiting to leave the city's hospitals stood at 18.2% - more than double the figure of around 9% in the same period in 2021, a meeting was told.

Carla Ramsay, from the NHS trust which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, also told East Riding councillors that almost 70,000 people were on treatment waiting lists.

She said the large number of flu patients being admitted to hospital was partly behind the figures.

Ms Ramsay added that the trust was facing 27 instances where patients were waiting longer than two years for treatment.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Ramsay told the committee that despite total waiting lists increasing by 4,000 patients more than forecast since coronavirus, the figures were "heading in the right direction".

She added that by March, the trust was on course to have no surgery and other elective procedure waits longer than a year and a half.

“There are only so many wards that can be opened. Every physical ward that can be opened is opened," Ms Ramsay said.

“We’ve also had to deal with infection issues and a large number of flu patients during the winter, so we’ve had to use staff that could have been used for elective procedures."

BBC analysis of data for December and January has shown that Hull University Hospitals NHS Trust was the worst in England for A&E waits, with 57% of patients waiting more than the four-hour target.

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