Nelson’s Hospital is running between 90 and 105 per cent bed occupancy as it heads into the winter ills’ season and the pressure on beds is deferring surgeries.
Chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker says he expects an increase in Covid-19 cases as winter sets in, along with an increase in flu, colds and other viruses and that puts even more pressure on the health system.
“That occupancy does mean that at times we are having to defer people’s surgery.”
He says it means people will also wait longer in the emergency department when the capacity is full.
To date, he says the expected Covid-19 wave has not eventuated and has been more a series of “undulations” that has still resulted in 70 to 100 cases reported in the region per day.
That is just the “tip of the iceberg” though, as he says many cases are not reported.
Between people entering the hospital because of Covid-19 and those in hospital for other reasons that then test positive, the virus continues to put pressure on the system and available beds because they have to be isolated, he says.
Many people have been relatively free of coughs and colds for the past couple of years, especially those under five years old and he expects an increase this winter.
Young children, especially infants, have the added risk of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which can lead to hospitalisation.
“Winter favours the spread of bugs and people need to take reasonable precautions. We had a culture pre-Covid where people thought it was okay to go to work and cough and sneeze and share their germs. I think people now think that is not okay because that inevitably brings more absenteeism and increasing problems.”
He says the public can do their part to reduce pressure on bed occupancy by getting health care early if they are sick, making plans for their own preventative health care such as vaccinations and if they do need to get medical help, going early in the day.
“There’s a tendency to come to hospital later in the day and that also puts more pressure on.”
On the positive side, he says the hospital has been able to find more staff lately to help staffing shortages, though concedes all health professionals are in short supply.
