Devon and Cornwall health bosses warn of service pressures

Health bosses in Cornwall said the county was struggling with the rise in demand following the summer holidays

Health bosses in Devon and Cornwall warn of significant pressures as demand for health services continue to rise.

Factors including more patients being admitted to hospitals with Covid-19, "challenges" with discharging people and increased demand for GPs and ambulances have caused issues.

South Western Ambulance Service has declared a "major incident" following unprecedented demand.

Bosses said patients in need of urgent care were always the priority.

'Constant challenge'

Dr Paul Johnson, clinical chair of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: "The situation in Devon is significantly different from earlier waves of the pandemic.

"Demand for services such as GP appointments and treatment in emergency departments has risen substantially, we're facing more challenges in discharging people home and patients are facing increasingly lengthy waits for treatment.

"Due to this combination of factors, some of our hospitals are finding it a constant challenge to find capacity to treat patients who need emergency surgery or urgent cancer care.

"Our priorities are always those patients with the most urgent need."

The Devon CCG said that along with the rest of the NHS, the county was seeing an increase in patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 which meant fewer beds were available for other patients.

It said hospitals were working together to address the issues.

Operations and outpatient appointments are being cancelled to relieve pressure

The group said it was "deeply sorry" it had temporarily stopped some routine work, including operations, outpatient appointments and some follow-up appointments.

Dr Catherine Lissett, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We fully recognise the enormous physical and emotional impact of postponing operations, appointments and treatment for our patients."

Devon CCG also said the number of staff isolating due to Covid-19 and current job vacancies had an impact.

Last weekend, South Western Ambulance Service said it received a call every 25 seconds

Will Warrender, the chief executive of South Western Ambulance Service, said he had declared a major incident within the trust which allowed him to draw on more resources.

"We are at the moment experiencing the highest levels of sustained demand on our 999 emergency service that we've ever experienced."

Over the weekend, the service said it had received a call every 25 seconds.

Mr Warrender said: "I'm afraid to say we are still receiving too many calls that don't need an emergency response."

A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall Hospital said the county had been a "hotspot for hundreds of thousands of people taking 'staycations'".

"We have been faced with our highest levels of Covid infection since the pandemic began.

"The recent spike in Covid-related admissions, very high numbers of people ready to leave hospital but unable to get the onward care they need, record demand on our ambulance service, and a large proportion of people presenting with a higher level of acuity, have all compounded the challenges we have with patient flow into and out of our hospitals."