Derriford hospital bed shortage declared 'critical incident'

Derriford Hospital is experiencing a critical shortage of beds, its chief operating officer said

A shortage of beds at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon has been declared an "internal critical incident".

Chief Operating Officer Kevin Baber said about 97% of the hospital beds were currently occupied.

He said the hospital had been "extremely busy" in recent months, averaging about 95% bed occupancy.

An increase in Covid-19 admissions and a greater demand on A&E departments were partly to blame, he told the BBC.

Mr Baber said there were currently 100 patients who were "medically fit for discharge", but the hospital were unable to place them into community or social care.

On Wednesday there were 52 patients with Covid-19 at Derriford, meaning at least three wards could not be used by uninfected patients.

"All in all we've probably got about a quarter of our bed stock tied up with managing the ongoing Covid pandemic and patients who are medically fit who could be cared for elsewhere," Mr Baber told BBC Radio Devon.

He added that emergency departments in Plymouth had been "very busy" in the last week, piling further pressure on the system.

'Exercise caution'

Mr Baber said the lack of beds meant the hospital was increasingly unable to perform routine surgeries.

"Our elected waiting list has gone up by 8,000 patients during the pandemic," he said.

Mr Baber said teams were working to allocate more beds for Covid-19 patients ahead of the bank holiday weekend as cases continue to rise in the South West.

He said staff were frequently asked to work extra shifts to cover the increase in demand.

"There's no doubt staff are tired - they've been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic," he said.

Mr Baber called on people to get vaccinated to help reduce the pressure on hospitals and urged individuals to "exercise caution" in their day-to-day life.