NHS Grampian declared a hospital major incident at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) as more than a dozen ambulances stacked up outside the building.
City residents spoke of “pandemonium” yesterday at the hospital as ambulances were struggling to offload patients to the A&E department.
The Press and Journal was contacted by concerned NHS Grampian employees after the health board declared a hospital major incident in the evening as personnel struggled to cope with the influx.
The move allowed them to pull in extra staff as the service struggled with a “high number of acutely ill patients”.
It is understood the situation was not as a result of a specific incident but more of the growing pressures the health board has been experiencing.
Ambulance queues becoming common sight
At around 5.30pm on Wednesday, The Press and Journal saw 13 ambulances queueing outside the hospital.
However, there have been reports of up to 22 at some points during the day.
It is understood the queues stopped Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) crews from being able to respond to multiple time-critical emergency calls.
A SAS spokeswoman said: “We experienced some delays in handing over patients on Wednesday February 22 due to pressures at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and this impacted on the ability of our crews to get back out responding to patients.
“However, following collaborative work between SAS and NHS Grampian those pressures were reduced over a period of time.”
Ambulance queues are a sight that is becoming increasingly familiar to residents as the NHS grapples with staff shortages and winter illnesses.
The staff shortages became so bad at ARI in December that an SOS to off-duty staff was sent out on social media to help cover shifts.
!! Call for all available staff!!
We are currently facing an extreme level of pressure across our health care system, due to the number of acutely ill patients arriving at hospital and difficulties in discharging patients to community settings.— NHS Grampian (@NHSGrampian) December 30, 2022
In January, Dr Gray’s Hospital was also badly affected after eight ambulances were seen queued outside the hospital in Elgin.
SNP health chief Humza Yousaf later admitted health workers were enduring the “perfect storm” after waiting times for A&E patients fell to their worst ever.
These issues, coupled with the difficulties in discharging patients to community settings, ensures hospitals are struggling to find patients beds.
Major incident called due to ‘extreme pressures’
Sandra Macleod, portfolio lead for Medicine and Unscheduled Care, at NHS Grampian, said these ongoing problems and a high number of acutely ill patients led to Wednesday’s call.
It is understood the hospital major incident was called at ARI at 7.30pm and it was five hours before it was stood down.
Ms Macleod said: “A hospital major incident was called on Wednesday night for a short period of time.
“It was a response to extreme pressures affecting Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
“This was due to a high number of acutely ill patients arriving at hospital, increased staffing pressures and difficulties in discharging to community settings.
“Our hospital major incident plan allows us to draw in extra staff who are not rostered to work, to allow the hospital to operate as safely as possible.
“In instances like these, cases are triaged as normal, with those facing life-threatening situations – such as heart attacks or strokes – continuing to be seen rapidly for life-saving treatment, and as an absolute priority.”
She added to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s plea in January in urging members of the public not facing life-threatening situations to access other NHS services first.
Ms Macleod said: “It is vital that to assist us, members of the public call NHS 24 on 111 prior to attending hospital, unless the situation is life-threatening – for example, a suspected heart attack or stroke, in which case they should call 999 immediately.”
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