Bed shortage at hospital despite Easter warning

Patients were left waiting for beds at Peterborough City Hospital despite health bosses being warned about an Easter rise in admissions.

Improvements are now being sought ahead of the May bank holidays after the hospital declared an internal major incident at 9.30am on Tuesday.

The status was removed at 2.15pm the following day.

The hospital was unable to say how many people in total had to wait for a bed or how long they had to wait for.

A spokeswoman for the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said 12 people were waiting for a bed on Tuesday afternoon and 16 at 9.30am on Wednesday morning.

The shortfall in beds came from a rise in emergency admissions, with patients who needed a bed being kept in the Emergency Department.

This was the seventh time in 2015 the Bretton-based hospital has declared an internal major incident, although not all were for bed shortages.

NHS England had previously sent a letter to the Trust which warned of a rise in patients during the Easter break.

The Trust spokeswoman added: “Over the Easter bank holiday the hospital saw an extra 30 patients per day causing pressure on the Trust.

“There was an action plan in place to cover the anticipated increased attendance which included enhanced services. However, we still experienced an increase in demand as many patients were seriously unwell.

“The Trust is working on initiatives to improve processes for periods of peak demand which may include the upcoming May bank holidays.”