Coronavirus: Cancel operations so hospitals can prepare for influx of virus patients, urge doctors

Doctors and experts are calling for the NHS to cancel planned surgeries and non-urgent activity to help hospitals prepare for an expected coronavirus surge.

As the government moves to the next phase of its plans to limit the spread of the disease, the NHS has been warned to expect an increase in demand for intensive care beds.

Senior doctors and hospital bosses have called for operations to be cancelled to allow time to establish makeshift intensive care wards and to practise treating coronavirus patients. Some of those infected are seriously ill with pneumonia and need oxygen and ventilation care.

The Royal College of Anaesthetists said it would back moves to give staff more time to prepare, while the president of the Intensive Care Society said hospitals needed to be taking the issue seriously but time for training was still variable across the system.

The Nuffield Trust think tank said cancellations could be sensible as thousands of extra patients may need intensive care. But it also warned the decision had to be taken locally rather than nationally.

Meanwhile, hospitals are being told to prepare for nationwide cancellations over the next few months, according to the Health Service Journal.

It reported that NHS England had asked hospitals to assess patient risk in case non-emergency work has to be cancelled.

Sarah Jane-Marsh, chief executive of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, said: “After a morning going through all of the relevant information, it’s definitely time to step up into full incident mode to best protect our patients, families and staff, and hopefully to provide mutual aid to our partners.”

Dr Helgi Johannsson, council member of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, told The Independent: “We are likely to be embarking on a time when intensive care units in the UK are going to be extremely stretched. Anaesthetists do a lot of intensive care in their training and the skill set of anaesthetists and intensive care doctors overlap considerably.

“The RCoA would be very supportive of any measures that allow anaesthetists to familiarise themselves with the policies and protocols of their intensive care units. We would also support time being given to ensure staff are fully trained in the additional measures required for caring for Covid-19 patients.

“We recognise that every hospital is different and it may be necessary for elective work to be postponed to allow for this training.”

He added it was important the medical community adopted a cooperative and unified approach to the crisis and that clinicians followed the advice of experts within government.

Ganesh Suntharalingam, president of the Intensive Care Society added: “Reducing elective surgery to cope with Covid-19 admissions may be necessary in time. However, hospitals should already be taking the issue seriously and looking at releasing staff time to train and prepare, and our members tell us that this varies significantly between trusts.”

Helen Buckingham from the Nuffield Trust said cancelling planned treatment was one way the NHS could quickly free up beds and this often happens to manage pressures in winter.

She said: “As the health service gears up for increases in the numbers of critically ill patients needing hospital care, it’s a sensible option to consider – even though it does come at a cost to those patients who will have to wait longer for care.”

But she said a blanket decision across the NHS may not be the best option.

On social media, many doctors and intensive care consultants have called for all non-urgent operations to be cancelled. Meanwhile, the government is under pressure over lack of action to prevent the spread of the virus.

The number of cases in the UK has now jumped by more than 134 cases in a day to 590 with two more deaths of elderly patients who tested positive for the virus.