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Bed shortages

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WQ.162/2022

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY A. HOWELL OF ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE AND TRINITY QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2022

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 19th SEPTEMBER 2022

Question

In light of recent reports in the Bailiwick Express regarding bed shortages, will the Minister inform the Assembly of the following –

  1. the number of overnight beds in the Jersey General Hospital (excluding Obstetric, Paediatric and Mental Health beds) that are available for use and fully staffed, together with the occupancy rates;
  2. if the number of beds has reduced from the figure of 172 reported in a Freedom of Information request in September 2020, who made the decision to reduce the number of beds;
  3. how many of the 13 beds on Samarès Ward , that are not currently being used for rehabilitation and allocated to patients principally needing packages of care in the community whilst their transfer of care is delayed, are now operational and being used for patient care; and
  4. how many, and what type of, operations and procedures have been cancelled or postponed as a result of staff or bed shortages per month in 2021 and 2022?  

Answer

a)

Firstly, it should be noted that the number of beds and staffing and occupancy rates are subject to minor fluctuations on a daily basis. For the purposes of responding to the question, Monday 12 September 2022 (the day on which the question was received) has been used.

Excluding Obstetric, Paediatric and Mental Health beds as requested in the question, at the midnight bed count on 12 September 2022, there were 146 beds available for use and fully staffed with an occupancy rate of 96%.

b)

The response to the referenced Freedom of Information request provided the average daily number of available beds for the period 1 January 2020 to 30 April 2020. As described, this was 172.

As a direct comparison, if utilising the same criteria as question (a) the equivalent figure of average beds available would be 165 as of 30 September 2020. The FOI 2020 request did not ask to exclude specialties. There was no decision to reduce this figure as it is a metric of bed availability & occupancy.

c)

14 beds have been available and operational since the re-opening of Samarès ward on the 10August 2022.

As of 16 September 2022, there were 9 patients meeting rehab criteria as assessed by the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and 5 patients were Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC). Patients who meet the criteria for rehabilitation are prioritised for placement to Samarès Ward with any remaining capacity being utilised for DTOC.

d)

The table below shows cancelled/rescheduled public theatre procedures by specialty from 1 January 2021 to 31 August 2022 populated by data available from the patient administration system with the reason for doing so being one of the following:

Cancelled by TCI cancellation

Day of surgery - Anaesthetist unavailable

Day of surgery - Emergency case needing theatre

Day of surgery - Hospital Beds unavailable

Day of surgery - Surgeon unavailable

Day of surgery - Theatre Unavailable

Day of surgery - Theatre list over -ran

Day of surgery - Theatre staff unavailable and critical care Hospital Bed unavailable

Not Day of surgery - Anaesthetist unavailable

Not Day of surgery - Emergency case needing theatre

Not Day of surgery - Hospital Beds unavailable

Not Day of surgery - Surgeon unavailable

 

Month of Operation

Anaesthetics

Breast Surgery

Cardiology

Community Health Services Dental

Endoscopy

ENT

General Medicine

General Surgery

Gynaecology

MaxilloFacial Surgery

Nephrology

Obstetrics

Ophthalmology

Oral Surgery

Paediatric Specialties

Pain Management

Trauma & Orthopaedics

Urology

Total

Jan-21

0

0

3

4

11

22

0

50

13

36

0

0

30

0

1

10

62

8

250

Feb-21

0

0

1

1

4

29

0

33

12

13

0

1

29

0

0

13

29

11

176

Mar-21

1

0

1

2

6

25

0

36

18

27

0

2

29

0

0

4

34

21

206

Apr-21

1

0

4

1

5

19

0

24

31

15

0

3

27

0

0

11

32

6

179

May-21

0

0

1

0

13

17

0

18

28

7

0

3

9

1

0

6

26

11

140

Jun-21

0

0

1

5

4

21

0

47

20

17

0

2

21

0

2

17

32

16

205

Jul-21

0

0

1

3

17

33

0

48

41

20

0

4

33

0

1

25

106

36

368

Aug-21

0

0

1

0

4

1

0

15

30

11

0

4

20

0

1

5

16

11

119

Sep-21

1

0

4

2

11

22

0

46

32

30

0

4

63

0

1

12

20

22

270

Oct-21

0

0

3

2

4

43

0

82

16

13

0

6

27

0

0

14

32

29

271

Nov-21

1

0

3

1

7

16

0

52

11

14

5

0

45

0

0

13

34

9

211

Dec-21

0

0

1

3

17

9

0

108

15

13

0

0

28

0

0

13

24

17

248

Jan-22

0

0

6

3

9

16

0

62

14

20

0

0

28

0

0

12

46

18

234

Feb-22

0

0

4

2

13

27

0

67

14

13

7

0

41

1

0

9

33

15

246

Mar-22

0

0

3

6

16

32

0

68

10

25

1

1

35

0

0

32

51

6

286

Apr-22

0

0

0

6

15

44

0

62

12

15

0

0

26

8

1

12

42

49

292

May-22

0

1

3

5

6

25

0

58

19

15

0

0

26

0

0

12

44

15

229

Jun-22

0

0

3

3

0

36

0

46

12

27

1

0

33

1

0

4

44

31

241

Jul-22

0

0

5

5

1

24

1

56

15

27

0

0

46

1

1

13

24

27

246

Aug-22

1

0

2

4

0

35

0

51

12

22

0

0

28

0

0

10

40

24

229

Data Source: Hospital Patient Administration System (TrakCare, Report OPT12AA)

 

Cancellation Reason

2021

2022 to 31 Aug

Cancelled by TCI cancellation

2534

1935

Day of surgery - Anaesthetist unavailable

1

0

Day of surgery - Emergency case needing theatre

19

7

Day of surgery - Hospital Beds unavailable

8

18

Day of surgery - Surgeon unavailable

9

8

Day of surgery - Theatre Unavailable

4

3

Day of surgery - Theatre list over -ran

27

22

Day of surgery - Theatre staff unavailable and critical care Hospital Bed unavailable

10

3

Not Day of surgery - Anaesthetist unavailable

1

3

Not Day of surgery - Emergency case needing theatre

4

1

Not Day of surgery - Hospital Beds unavailable

1

0

Not Day of surgery - Surgeon unavailable

25

3

Data Source: Hospital Patient Administration System (TrakCare, Report OPT12AA)