Winter takes its toll at Hillingdon Hospital in January 2009

A very cold December combined with outbreaks of flu put The Hillingdon Hospital Trust under intense pressure. In January the Trust continues to have 30 additional beds open, to meet demand, as well as keeping more beds empty than is usual.

Winter vomiting virus is now imposing additional pressures. Some wards are already infected and are closed to new patients. The virus is more easily caught than the common cold and to curtail the risk of it being brought into the hospital, friends and relatives of patients are asked to make only essential visits.

Infections
The Trust had two MRSA cases in January making a total of 13 so far in year, breaching the whole year target of 12 cases maximum. The Board learned that three of the patients identified with MRSA had no symptoms, so it is possible that contamination of samples could have occurred. It was also noted that in January last year that there were 28 cases of MRSA in year, so there has been dramatic improvement despite failing the target. (Note too that every Trust has a target based on its own past performance, and that Hillingdon Hospital’s target is lower than many similar hospitals.

FinancesDecember’s financial performance was better than the same month last year and so the Trust’s financial position is as planned for this point in the year.
Joan Davis