Under-pressure hospitals in Morecambe Bay at high alert level

On Monday, the Trust which operates the RLI, Westmorland General and Furness General Hospitals, announced it was at Operations Pressure Escalation Level (OPEL) 4.

OPEL 4 is only declared when hospitals are under severe pressure.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust (UHMBT) was facing an increased number of people waiting in its Emergency Departments and a lack of capacity in some departments.

By Tuesday, UHMBT took the decision to de-escalate to OPEL Level 3.

“This decision was made because the pressure has reduced to a level which while still very significant, does not meet the OPEL 4 criteria,” a Trust statement said.

“Whilst these de-escalations are positive news, it is important to note that our services do remain under extreme pressure.

"Therefore, we will continue to work closely with our partners to take appropriate action where needed, particularly as it relates to supporting the discharge of patients.”

The OPEL system is used to set out the procedures to effectively manage day to day variations in demand across the health and social care system within an NHS hospital or Trust.

When hospitals declare OPEL 3, they may need to implement measures including cancelling elective surgeries or diverting patients to other facilities.

On Tuesday, speaking in parliament, Lancaster MP, Cat Smith called on the new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting to commit to a meeting with North Lancashire MPs to ensure the

delivery of a new hospital for the area as the RLI was ‘not fit for purpose.’

Mr Streeting was aware of the particular urgency around land and said that a scheme would be brought to him shortly which he would consider carefully: “I will make sure I come back

with promises that we can keep and that the country can afford.”

New Morecambe MP, Lizzi Collinge, who met with Public Health Minister, Andrew Gwynne this week, said the situation at local hospitals was ‘extremely concerning’.

Ms Collinge said: “Unfortunately, the regular escalation of OPEL levels across our health services nationwide is a symptom of years of mismanagement and a sign that people have been getting sicker and less able to get early help for many years.”