IN its battle against winter pressures and rising Omicron cases the NCA, which runs the Royal Oldham Hospital, has made freeing up beds an ‘urgent priority’ with plans to expand virtual wards.

In a statement, released after a Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) trust board meeting on December 20, the NCA said virtual care for all patients will be implemented where possible to support the ‘freeing up of beds’, ‘flow across the hospital sites’ and ‘rapid discharge’.

It comes after the NHS was moved to its highest state of emergency alert earlier this month to tackle the “new and significant” threat posed by the Omicron variant.

The health service in England declared a “Level 4 National Incident”, on December 12 meaning Covid-19 pressure on healthcare services is “widespread and substantial or rising”.

In response the NHS ordered hospitals to free up as many beds as possible and expand the use of virtual wards which allow patients to be treated in their own home with remote monitoring of their oxygen levels.

On December 17, Greater Manchester placed ‘paramount importance’ on the need to reduce hospital occupancy to allow for the expected increase in Covid admissions from December 24.

Virtual wards are designed to treat patients who do not need immediate hospital attention, but whose condition needs to be monitored in case they develop other serious symptoms, and their condition deteriorates.

It is hoped that keeping Covid patients out of hospital will leave beds free for patients otherwise waiting in ambulances and on trolleys in A and E.

Latest data published by the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) NHS Foundation Trust shows that in Oldham the number of patients in A&E for more than 12 hours, from their arrival to their departure or hospital admission, soared from 250 in September to 267 in October, a sharp rise from 18 in April.

Discussing virtual wards, David Jago, chief officer for The Royal Oldham Hospital said: “Our clinical teams maintain telephone contact with patients on the virtual ward care plan and can ascertain from the results of these conversations whether a home visit is necessary, if further hospital treatment is needed or whether the patient can remain safely at home.

“Hospitals across the NCA, including The Royal Oldham Hospital, were amongst the first in Greater Manchester to introduce the virtual Covid oximetry support service at home in September 2020, treating thousands of patients safely and effectively however the service is not just limited to Covid cases, and can be appropriate for patients with other conditions too.

“The aim behind the service is to support patients to stay at home, whilst being monitored and cared for remotely by clinical teams both at the hospital and in the community.”