Agenda item

The Chief Executive Officer – Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust/ Chair of the Urgent Care Board will provide the committee with an overview of the impact of winter pressures on acute hospitals in Wiltshire during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chairman reported that in November the Vice-Chairman and he had attended a positive meeting with Stacey Hunter, Chief Executive Officer for the Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, and that she had kindly agreed to provide an update on the pressures being felt by the acute hospitals supporting Wiltshire.

The chief executive gave an overview of the pressures facing the NHS and compared them to the winter pressures normally faced outside of a pandemic. Focusing specifically on the last few weeks, she reported that Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath and Great Western Hospital (GWH) in Swindon had both recently declared major incidents and that the RUH still had a critical incident declared.

She explained that the need to separate Covid-19 infected and non-infected patients made the delivery of services more complex and meant that hospital infrastructure couldn’t be used at 100 percent capacity. However, she was keen to stress that there were a number of incremental factors causing the pressures, such as staff shortages, increased demand and issues around hospital discharge.

The chief executive stressed the importance of working together and was keen to thank local partners for their support, explaining that positive things could be built upon the back of those relationships. She highlighted that it was important for the trust to understand how it could best use its expertise to contribute to the local community.

During the discussion points included:

• Members thanked the chief executive for the update and were pleased to hear about the collaborative working between primary care and community services.

• In response to a question about why the RUH had so many staff absences, 781 as of 5 January, when compared to Salisbury Foundation Trust, the chief executive stated that one possible reason was that many RUH staff lived in Bristol, an area with higher Covid-19 rates.

• Questions were also asked about the contribution of mental health issues to staff absence and it was noted that mental health issues were in the top three issues for absence, but this had been the case pre-pandemic.

• In response to a question about the relatively high level of Covid-19 admissions to GWH, it was noted that Swindon had a higher community infection rate than other areas such as Salisbury.

• The chief executive spoke about the importance of ensuring equal access to healthcare services in achieving consistent patient outcomes across communities.

• Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council and Co-Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board explained that the council was looking into the factors contributing to inequality in order to holistically address systemic issues. He noted that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be focusing on health inequalities as part of this work.

• The chief executive stated that restrictions had reduced the numbers of hospital admissions. Of patients found to have Covid-19, approximately two thirds were admitted because of the condition and around a third were incidental findings, where Covid-19 was found after testing.

• When asked about potential changes to self-isolation rules, the chief executive noted that there could be benefits in staff being able to return to work earlier than under the current rules.

Resolved

1) To thank the Chief Executive, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, for the update.

2) To acknowledge the committee’s appreciation of the work of health and care staff in their response to the pandemic.

3) To note the commitment within the system to address health inequalities.