Scarborough Hospital faced ‘one of the busiest days ever’ this week due to ‘sustained pressure’

York and Scarborough NHS hospitals faced “one of the busiest days our two acute hospitals have ever seen” on Tuesday, January 3, according to the Trust that runs them.

It comes as a Harrogate man suffering from appendicitis was forced to sleep in his car overnight while waiting for treatment at Scarborough hospital due to a shortage of beds.

Michael Woodcock said that when he attended Scarborough hospital on December 27 he was triaged “fairly quickly” but due to a lack of beds, he had to spend the night in his car.

He said he was provided with blankets by nurses and had to wait around eight hours before being seen by a doctor but added that he had no complaints about post-surgery care and did not blame hospital staff for the situation.

The watchdog Healthwatch North Yorkshire said that Mr Woodcock’s situation highlighted “the urgent need for increased NHS staffing, funding and resources”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the York and Scarborough NHS Trust said it would be taking “a number of actions” including redirecting staff and seeking to create additional capacity.

Though the changes could be “disruptive to patients” the Trust said that it did not take the decision lightly, adding that “the pressure on our two emergency departments requires extraordinary action”.

A spokesperson for the NHS Trust said: “We have been under sustained pressure for several weeks which has escalated over the double bank holiday period, resulting in January 3, 2023, being one of the busiest our two acute hospitals have ever seen.

“We have high numbers of patients in our emergency departments awaiting admission, and we are simply not discharging patients in high enough numbers to create the capacity we need.”

A critical incident has not yet been declared by the Trust, but this is being kept “under close review”.

Patients are being urged to help alleviate pressure on NHS services by calling 111 “if they are unsure whether to go to the emergency department”.

The NHS Trust added: “We would like to thank all our staff for their continued hard work and commitment under sustained pressure during this very challenging and difficult time.”