Floods Latest News
01/08/2007
Health Service Update
GP surgeries are continuing to focus on meeting the needs of patients with urgent medical needs. Patients are asked to contact their GP surgery if they require urgent care and follow the advice provided.
During the evening and overnight, the Out of Hours medical service (call 08454 220220) is available to provide urgent care to those people who for medical reasons cannot wait until their GP surgery re-opens.
For general medical advice, people can call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.
During the day, patients who require routine medication in flood hit areas such as Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury can go to their usual community pharmacy where they will be dispensed a 5 day supply of medication.
Community Nursing Teams are working closely with social care staff to provide care to vulnerable patients in local communities. If you are aware of a particularly vulnerable person who may require additional health or social care support, please call 0800 0920410.
The NHS is asking people to only call 999 in an emergency so that patients with life threatening conditions can continue to receive timely access to services.
Latest News on Surgery and Outpatient appointments
Outpatient appointments
The NHS in Gloucestershire is pleased to announce that from Wednesday 1 August all outpatient appointments will resume as normal at Cheltenham General Hospital, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Delancey Hospital and Stroud General Hospital.
Anyone who has an appointment at these hospitals should please keep that appointment as normal.
Anyone who has had an outpatient appointment cancelled during the last few days will either already have a new appointment date, or will be contacted in the near future to arrange a new date.
Routine surgery and day case procedures
From Thursday August 2nd the Hospitals Trust will also resume most routine inpatient and day case procedures and operations scheduled to take place at Cheltenham General, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Stroud General Hospital.
Anyone expecting to come into hospital on Thursday should do so as planned unless they have been contacted by the hospital.
Anyone who has had a routine operation or day case appointment cancelled during the last few days will either already have a new appointment date, or will be contacted in the near future to arrange a new date
Tewkesbury Hospital
Tewkesbury Hospital is being used as a GP base from Monday 30 July for two weeks and outpatient appointments and surgery have been cancelled until further notice. Alternative arrangements will be made for urgent outpatient appointments at other hospitals.
Helpline for Patients
The free helpline number to call for any queries regarding appointments or ongoing treatment is 0800 0193368. The helpline is now open 8am – 5 pm until further notice.
Radiotherapy
The Trust has already been able to provide a substantial number of radiotherapy appointments for the last couple of days and hopes to have all four linear accelerators (the ‘linac’ machines which are used to deliver radiotherapy) up and running very soon. The reason why treatment was cancelled was that the linacs require substantial amounts of water as part of their cooling system.
There will be another update tomorrow.
Our clinicians have closely examined the notes of all patients and those for whom radiotherapy treatment is critical are being contacted directly to arrange an appointment.
However, all radiotherapy patients are being contacted by staff to discuss their ongoing treatment and in some cases, consultants are carrying out consultations over the phone. In order to treat as many patients as possible, a radiotherapy service was also provided over the weekend – something which does not usually take place.
Breast Screening
The Breast Screening Service in Cheltenham will resume service as normal from Monday August 6th. All patients whose appointments were cancelled will receive a new appointment date through the post.
Some service has resumed today (Tuesday 31st July) – patients who are being seen will have been contacted by telephone.
The service from the Stroud and Dursley Mobile Units is still running. The cancellation was due to the water shortage which means we are unable to process the x-rays. All affected patients will be receiving another appointment once the current situation improves and the service is planning to resume as normal as soon as possible.
Other information
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust said: ”We are delighted to be able to resume almost normal service from Wednesday and Thursday this week. We would like to thank our patients and their families for their understanding during this challenging time, also our members of staff who have continued to provide a good service despite the difficulties.
“We understand that patients may have been concerned about the cancellations and apologise for any inconvenience they have caused.
“We would like to reassure members of the public that it was only routine and non-urgent appointments that were cancelled and our clinicians have been studying patient notes to ensure that those who required treatment as a matter of priority continued to be seen.
“We would also encourage anyone who has a concern or question about their ongoing care or future appointments to ring our free helpline.”
Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Jan Stubbings said:
"The flooding has and continues to provide real challenges for the NHS locally, but hospital staff and local GPs are doing a wonderful job and have gone to great lengths to ensure that the welfare and care of our patients remains the top priority.”
“We have been working closely with the Hospitals Trust to ensure that services could return to normal at the earliest opportunity. We do not underestimate the pressures that NHS staff have faced in recent days and patients across Gloucestershire have been wonderfully understanding particularly under the current circumstances.”
Winchcombe Minor Injuries Unit
Gloucestershire PCT and local GPs have agreed to the temporary closure of the Minor Injuries Unit at Winchcombe Hospital on staff and patient safety grounds.
The current floods are placing additional strain on the hospital and the nursing staff who provide cover for the Minor Injuries Unit need to focus on caring for inpatients on the ward.
As a result of the current shortages, water is currently being transferred by hand into the hospital by staff for sanitation purposes.
Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust’s Director of Care Services, John Ford said:
“There is agreement from local clinicians that based on staff and patient safety considerations and the additional pressures brought on by the floods, a temporary closure of the Minor Injuries Unit is the right course of action to take.”
“We have made no permanent decision and will review the position when the current floods incident is over.”
Dr Keith Curtis, Senior Partner at Winchcombe Medical Practice said:
"Under the current circumstances we recognise that there are very real safety concerns. It is important that the nursing staff are in a position to concentrate on the health and well-being of the current hospital inpatients.”
- Local GP services are available between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday and Community Nursing Services are also provided
- Patients who require urgent medical treatment out of hours that can’t wait until the GP surgery re-opens should call the Out of Hours medical service on 08454 220 220. There is an Out of Hours Primary Care Centre in Cheltenham
- There is also a 24 hour Emergency Department in Cheltenham
Public Health Key Messages:
If you do not have access to mains water:
- Collect bowser water in a safe, clean container and store it safely to prevent contamination
- Boil bowser water before use as a precautionary measure
- Boiled bowser water is the best option for making up infant formula. Boiled bottled water can also be used. It is important to keep babies hydrated If your child has a kidney condition or is on a low sodium diet, only use boiled bowser water. If this is not possible, please seek medical advice
- Use bowser water as sparingly as possible and save it for drinking
- Flood water or other ‘grey water’ such as from streams and rain water can be used to flush the toilet. You can also use recycled drinking water e.g. from tooth brushing or from cooking
- If possible, do not flush the toilet after every visit, but it is important that you wash your hands with clean water and soap or wetwipes
- If your home has been flooded, assume water has been contaminated and boil it before drinking
- Health risks are low, but avoid contact with flood water where possible. If you have to deal with it, try and use protective clothing such as gloves and wellies. Overalls and goggles can be worn if you have them
- Children should not play in flood water
- If walking through flood water beware of hazards such as debris
- If you have been exposed to flood water wash your hands thoroughly especially before preparing food and eating with clean water and soap or wetwipes
- If you are aware that there is a loss of power or water in your area, please check on the elderly or vulnerable people and ensure they have received the above advice and that they have access to water.
Further detailed information can be found on the Health Protection Agency website at www.hpa.org.uk.
Important Health Advice for residents when the water supply returns through taps:
- Do not drink the water even after boiling it
- Do not use the water for food preparation
- Do not use the water for ice making
- Do not use for cleaning your teeth
- Do not use for making baby feeds
This water CAN be used for flushing toilets, bathing and showering.
You will be informed when the tap water is safe to drink.
Bottled water or boiled Bowser water remains the only safe source of drinking water until further notice.
Information on Water Supply
Link to www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=15984
Useful Links
- Gloucestershire Police
- Gloucestershire County Council
- The Health Protection Agency
- Severn Trent Water
- Highways Agency
- Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue
