Royal Stoke University Hospital faced worst December in memory

Tracy Bullock said NHS morale was the lowest she had ever seen

A hospital boss says this December has been the worst she has ever experienced in the NHS.

Tracy Bullock, chief executive of University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust, said staff morale was at its lowest and services strained.

The trust was the fourth worst affected by flu in the country, said Ms Bullock, with the vast majority of patients "extremely unwell".

At its worst, she said there were 90 people in its emergency unit.

A significant number of flu, Covid and respiratory infection cases has put significant pressure on the NHS in recent weeks.

"This was the busiest December and by far the busiest Christmas and new year period that we've ever faced in the NHS," said Ms Bullock.

UHNM runs County Hospital in Stafford and Royal Stoke University Hospital

Numbers of patients had "busted" worst-case scenarios in her winter plan, she added, leading her to some "very uncomfortable decisions".

One such choice was the reintroduction of "corridor care", something Ms Bullock said she eradicated when joining UHNM in 2019.

"Our clinicians our doctors and nurses in ED came to the executive and asked for it," she said.

The executive stipulated no more than 15 patients could be attended to in corridors, and only if the right personnel were available.

"It isn't the same level of care that you could provide on a ward or in a side room, but it's making sure their fundamental needs are met," she said.

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The A&E congestion, plus the need to keep infectious people apart, also created a backlog in ambulance offloading times, said Ms Bullock.

As a result, the trust starting sending patients from the emergency department to wait in wards for the next available bed, and created additional space for 10 ambulances.

"Things would have been a whole lot worse had we not done those things, and we would have had far far more ambulances waiting outside," she added.

"But unfortunately those measures haven't all made the difference we wanted."

To relieve the pressure on the Royal Stoke University Hospital, beds at Cheadle Hospital have been put back into use to take up to 40 patients.

More are also being seen at Haywood Hospital, Burslem and Bradwell Hospital, in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Intensive medical treatment

However, those hospitals can only provide limited help.

"One of the thing that we have noticed over the festive period is that the patients coming to us are really sick," Ms Bullock said.

"They need intensive medical treatment, they need oxygen and they need therapies and interventions that can't possibly be delivered in those kind of hospitals."

Staff morale was at an all-time low, she added, with medics "fed up" and "stretched too far".

The chief executive called for a better funded and functioning social care system to help ease pressures on hospitals.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged on Wednesday to increase NHS funding. asking to be held to account if waiting lists do not fall.

Earlier in the week, the government said it recognised the pressure facing the NHS.

"That's why we've backed the NHS and social care with up to £14.1bn additional funding over the next two years and this winter we have provided an extra £500m to speed up hospital discharge and free up beds," a spokesperson said.