Hospital rolls out plan to beat seasonal surge

Cutting unnecessary admissions and the time people spend in hospital are among measures being introduced to prevent a hospital from becoming overwhelmed over winter.

A predicted spike in flu and Covid-19 cases could put extra pressure on emergency services and hospital beds, said Health and Care Jersey.

To tackle this, new areas have been added to the General Hospital's emergency department.

Bosses said they included a rapid assessment and treatment area, which allowed a senior clinician to assess patients arriving by ambulance and run diagnostic tests within 30 minutes, so they could be quickly moved to the right ward.

Another area, Fit2Sit, was for patients who did not need a trolley but could be treated in a recliner chair, freeing up space and speeding up ambulance handovers, they added.

Specialist paramedics were also being introduced for the first time in Jersey, said Health and Care.

They could treat some patients at home, with blood tests processed by the hospital laboratory within an hour.

A same-day emergency care unit has opened too, allowing patients to be assessed, treated and discharged without an overnight stay.

A discharge to assess service is also being launched, letting patients go home while care assessments happen.

James Basilio-Mason, head of operational resilience, said: "A huge amount of work has gone into developing this winter plan, which is focused on enhancing care for islanders."

Health Minister Deputy Tom Binet said vaccinating against flu and Covid-19 were "key to preventing severe illness" and he urged people to "only attend the emergency department in a genuine emergency".

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].