Critical incident declared at Northampton and Kettering hospitals as NHS battles “toughest winter”

Bosses at NHS acute hospitals in Northampton and Kettering have declared a critical incident in response to “significant ongoing pressure” as the health service battles “one of the toughest winters in its history”.

A spokesman for Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital trusts said the decision was taken to “help our teams to ensure patients continue to receive safe and appropriate care.” The statement stopped short of detailing which departments are under most “pressure” but added that out-patients should continue to attend planned appointments unless they are told not to.

It added: “Escalating to critical incident enables us to open additional beds and enlist the support of our partners to help us cope with the current pressures. Our teams continue to work exceptionally hard and we would like to reassure our patients and the public that despite the challenges faced, essential services remain fully open for anyone who needs them. So if you require urgent medical help, please continue to come forward.”

Latest data published by NHS England showed the two hospitals were operating at around 97 percent capacity in the week up to December 18. NGH had an average of 23 spare beds out of 664 while KGH had 14 beds available out of 566. Hospitals are considered to be “too busy” if more than 85 percent of their available general and acute beds are occupied by patients.

The critical incident call came alongside a decision made on Wednesday (December 28) to suspend visiting on adult inpatient wards following a jump in cases of Covid, flu and other respiratory illnesses in an effort to reduce infection risk to vulnerable patients, prevent the spread of viruses and help prevent staff absences.

In a joint statement, chief operating officers Palmer Winstanley and Fay Gordon said: “The UK is now experiencing a significant spike in winter illnesses including Covid, flu, RSV and norovirus. The current variants are very infectious, and we are seeing numbers rise in both hospitals with some patients being very unwell.

“We are also urging people to have their Covid and flu vaccinations. We are seeing patients who are being hospitalised with both flu and Covid and a number of these patients are seriously unwell and unvaccinated.”

More than a dozen NHS hospital trusts across England are understood to have declared critical incidents in the last fortnight. Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust said on Wednesday it is seeing “record numbers of people attending A&E, calling NHS 111, accessing GP services and calling 999” while more staff are off sick.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “The number of critical incidents we have seen declared over recent days are an accumulation of a number of difficult challenges meaning the NHS is facing one of the toughest winters in its history.

“High rates of flu, ongoing issues with delayed discharge and the disruptive impact of industrial action are compounding the longer-term issues of over 130,000 NHS vacancies, a decade-long lack of investment in capital and the elective backlog. This is bringing pressures to a head in many parts of the country.”