With so much in the news about the NHS and the pressure it is under on a daily basis, we want to reassure you that Cambridge University Hospitals has comprehensive plans in place to keep you and your family safe this winter.
These plans include doing everything we can to reduce waiting times for elective surgery, and in our Emergency Department, by increasing flow through the hospital, to having contingencies in place for things we cannot fully predict – such as the ongoing impact of Covid-19, flu, winter vomiting and other seasonal challenges.
We will be there for our patients – but please help us to help you by fully utilising the services of NHS 111 - and NHS 111 online (opens in a new tab) and choosing the most appropriate service.
Together we can get through this winter and the following information, including the questions and answers below, are designed to help.
Your frequently asked questions answered
What are the winter pressures currently faced by CUH?
Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie are facing significant ongoing challenges.
We are seeing extremely high demand across all of our services, with people waiting much longer than we would like to access our emergency department and to be admitted to one of our inpatient beds, to progress their treatment and recovery. At the same time, the wait for planned surgery is significantly longer than would have been the case before Covid for most of our patients. This is mainly due to significant disruption in our ability to operate safely during the pandemic.
In addition, we are still treating patients with Covid, with a handful in critical care. Most however are not seriously ill and are in hospital because of other illnesses or injury, but this still puts extra pressure on our teams. Infection control measures still need to be put in place such as closing beds and having separate Covid wards to stop outbreaks in the hospital.
An increase in Covid infection in the community also impacts on staffing levels with more staff off sick themselves. Flu and winter vomiting bugs can also impact on staffing. We therefore urge anyone who is eligible for a vaccination or booster, to take up the opportunity and book an appointment at your GP or local vaccination centre, to ensure your safety and the safety of others this winter.
Despite all of this, we would like to reassure our community that we are making progress in recovering our services. We are sustaining excellent outcomes as well as offering consistently good access to our cancer services. In intensive care, we are achieving some of the best outcomes in the country for our patients.
The clinical effectiveness of our care and the safety of our patients remains our absolute focus as we move forward.
Why is A&E so busy and what can be done to tackle it?
Our Emergency Department is dealing with around 360 patients per day and regularly sees numbers above pre-Covid levels. This increase is down to many factors and includes patients with minor illnesses or injuries coming to A&E who could be cared for by other healthcare services in the community. In addition, the colder weather puts up demand.
One of the ways we can help reduce pressure on our Emergency Department is treating more patients in our urgent care clinics so they’re able to return home on the same day. This is being achieved at CUH but also at other health services in the community such as the Ely and Doddington minor injury units, both of which can provide urgent care, help and advice. Local pharmacies are another alternative for seeking expert advice.
People can support the NHS by using the right service at the right time, so that our Emergency Department can keep providing care for people who have a genuinely urgent or emergency healthcare need.
If you are unsure where to go for help, visit 111 online or call NHS 111.
Why are waiting lists for planned operations so long?
As a Trust we are working really hard to bring waiting lists down for planned operations and treatment. This includes carrying out extra operations on Saturdays and safely increasing the number of procedures that can be carried out in our Day Surgery Unit, which helps to free up space in the main hospital for those needing an inpatient bed.
The good news is that the backlog of those who have waited the longest for planned treatment has been significantly reduced compared to last year. However, waiting lists continue to grow at CUH and in line with hospitals across the country, with more people being referred for treatment.
How will extra capacity help?
Expanding the overall capacity of the hospital is vital to meet the ongoing challenge of long waiting lists and high demand for services.
In total we have invested in an extra 116 beds on site and 3 new orthopaedic theatres. The new theatres are due to open in summer 2023 and will focus on hip and knee surgery, where waits for treatment are some of the longest.
New staff are vital too and we will be welcoming hundreds of additional nurses and theatre staff, alongside twice the number of apprentices. These colleagues will build on what is one of the most highly skilled workforces in the region.
All this, while we continue to make progress with our plans to build two new hospitals, the Cambridge Children’s and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospitals. These two inspirational projects are progressing at speed and will be fantastic additions to what is already an extraordinary and nationally significant campus.
Our development of genomic medicine in both research and patient services is a hugely exciting prospect too.
Will the hospital have to cancel operations because of winter pressures?
Many patients are waiting longer than they, or we, would like, and we fully understand how upsetting and frustrating this is. Referrals into the hospital continue too, so some waiting lists are still growing.
If numbers of Covid patients are low, the hospital can carry out around 500 planned operations a week, that's proportionally above pre-Covid levels.
However, surges in emergency patients, staff shortages and any rise in Covid patients can reduce the number of post-operative beds available for patients having planned surgery.
This can lead to operations being cancelled. Please be assured we are doing everything we can to carry out as many operations as possible while keeping patients and staff safe. In the meantime, we are keeping in touch with patients who are waiting and providing them with information on what to do if their condition changes.
What are you doing to support staff?
Our staff are undoubtedly tired after an extremely tough and traumatic few years. In addition, the cost of living crisis is putting an extra strain on many.
To help, there is a package of measures to ease costs for our staff, including free Park and Ride bus rides, discounts and subsidies on transport and food.
We are also working hard to ensure that staff have access to appropriate levels of wellbeing support ranging from creative sessions provided by our arts team to psychological interventions for those most in need.
It’s really important that we take time to look back since the Covid pandemic first began and build on what we’ve learned and the experiences we’ve been through, both good and bad, for staff and patients.
We've delivered some extraordinary care at the same time as making national and international contributions in the field of Covid research, collaborating with our partners on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus including the University of Cambridge, Astra Zeneca, and the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and our NHS friends at Royal Papworth Hospital and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.
Despite everything we’re facing, with the support of our community, we’re confident we will meet the challenges we face this winter and keep improving our care for all.
What can the public do to help support the hospital? And its staff?
Please get Covid and Flu vaccinated or boosted if you haven’t already done so.
Please support your NHS by using the right service at the right time, so that our Emergency Department can keep providing care for people who have a genuinely urgent or emergency healthcare need. If you are unsure where to go for help, visit 111 online or call NHS 111.
Details of local minor injury units can be found here. (opens in a new tab)
Also take note of our rules on visiting and wearing face coverings. It is still a requirement to wear a mask or face covering inside our hospitals when in a clinical area.