Pembrokeshire County Council has launched Operation Nightingale 23, a campaign to support and reduce pressure in local hospitals.
The Council is acutely aware of the considerable challenges currently being experienced within the NHS in Wales including within our local hospital at Withybush.
Withybush has a significant numbers of patients who need to leave hospital but are waiting for an assessment of continuing care need or the right care package in the community.
Under Op NG 23, Pembrokeshire County Council will deliver a variety of measures to help increase the flow of patients out of hospital including:
- the short-term redeployment of staff into community support roles
- additional social work capacity
- the redeployment of existing social care capacity into the hospital teams to prioritise patient care assessment and care package allocation
This will also include the engagement of community groups and volunteers to allow people to safely leave hospital and return home.
The Authority will be looking to its partners and communities for support across a variety of contributing activities that have the potential to have an immediate impact.
Last week the Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services
Eluned Morgan MS visited Pembrokeshire County Council and received a briefing on Operation Nightingale 23.
Cllr Tessa Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Safeguarding, said:
“We understand that pressures around bed capacity, discharges from hospital and challenges around the provision of care packages in the community, all impact negatively on our most vulnerable citizens.
“Some of the challenges that the council is experiencing in social care are shared across the health sector, not least of all with regard to workforce, winter flu and the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 virus.
“We acknowledge the significant impact this has on those in hospitals and care, and for their families. As part of our work we want to get the best results for everyone.”
It is as a result of these acute pressures, particularly at this time of year, and the risk they create, that Pembrokeshire County Council has decided to launch Operation Nightingale 23.
Cllr Hodgson adds: “This will see the authority and in particular the social care directorate step up to a critical response mode, in order to develop immediate and short term innovative responses to the current pressures, to improve flow of patients out of hospital, and to reduce pressure on our colleagues in the NHS.”
The Authority will review how it can effectively embed this work in the medium to long term, to face the challenges of an aging population for the good of this generation and those to come.
Steve Moore, Chief Executive for Hywel Dda University Health Board, said:
“Our hospitals continue to be extremely busy with many sick patients and continuing high demand for emergency and urgent care. This means patients are waiting longer than we would want them to.
“This is always the most difficult period of the year, and we are managing the complexity of flu, covid and increased urgent and emergency care demand.
“Currently, we have around 300 patients who are medically fit for discharge across the Hywel Dda region. This equates to over a third of the number of beds in our hospitals.
“Operation Nightingale 23 will help to free up some of those beds allowing us to treat patients more quickly and we are grateful to our colleagues in social care in Pembrokeshire for prioritising this work to free up capacity in the system.”
If you think you can offer your help to support the Operation Nightingale 23 campaign, please get in touch with PAVS/Pembrokeshire Community Hub on
- 01437 723660
- enquiries@pembrokeshire communityhub.org
