Hospital bed occupancy of 98.9% triggered alert

The rate of admissions to Isle of Man's main hospital had stretched bed occupancy to 98.9% when the highest level of alert was triggered last week, the health minister has said.

Claire Christian said Noble's Hospital had taken the "unusual step" to enter Operational Pressures Escalation Level Four last week in response to an "exceptional surge in demand".

She said 280 people had visited the emergency department over 12 and 13 May, with 60 admissions during the period.

The situation led to 19 non-urgent operations planned for the week being cancelled, freeing up 28 bed spaces over the period, she said.

Christian told Tynwald A&E was already seeing between 120 and 140 patients in each 24-hour window prior to the spike in pressure, with an admission rate for those patients of between 17% and 19%.

That percentage, she said, had increased significantly during that period.

She said the situation had "happened fast in terms of the admissions", which were not keeping pace with discharges, and there had been more than 100 calls to the ambulance service on the day the escalation was declared.

"Around 12 patients were waiting for an inpatient bed in the emergency department and both adult bed occupancy and critical care occupancy have reached 98.9%," she said.

However, she said while the escalation was "not a routine occurrence" and had only happened twice in the past 18 months, it was a "normal process" in those circumstances to maintain safe care.

The ongoing transformation of Ward 2 into a clinical decision unit, along with the temporary relocation of Martin Ward from Ramsey, had reduced flexibility and hindered the mangement of patient flow, she explained.

Christian also told politicians the opening of that new unit – set to create 12 spaces for patients who need to be observed rather than admitted – had been delayed by two months to August after additional issues with the flooring were discovered.

The return of the minor injuries unit, which usually sees about 40 patients a day, to the site of Ramsey Cottage Hospital would "help relieve some pressure" on Noble's, she said.

The unit had been moved to the main hospital in Braddan in December while extensive refurbishment works are carried out at the northern site.

The minister said while work was ongoing to move more services back to the north, a recent condition survey had indicated "significant building issues" at the Ramsey site, with costs "potentially in the range of £6m to £10m".

The health department, Manx Care and the infrastructure department were working together on the longer-term strategic plan for health and social care services in the north, she added.

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