Coronavirus: Shropshire hospitals prepare to suspend non-urgent operations

In a letter to senior managers and hospital trusts, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens and NHS chief operating officer Amanda Pritchard said the health service will “come under intense pressure” when the virus peaks.

Hospitals are told to assume they will need to postpone all non-urgent operations from April 15 at the latest, “for a period of at least three months”.

Dr Arne Rose, medical director at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, says urgent and emergency cases and cancer treatments will be carrying on as normal.

The trust will be training staff and adapting areas of its hospitals.

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Patients who are awaiting treatment and will be affected are being contacted.

Dr Rose said: “As the chief medical officer has stated, NHS services are likely to come under intense pressure as the coronavirus spreads, and we need to ensure that we have as many beds available as possible to care for patients with severe respiratory problems when the number of infections peaks.

“Therefore, in line with well-established plans for situations like this, every hospital in England has now been asked to suspend all non-urgent elective operations for at least three months, with some other procedures likely to be rescheduled before then so we can train our staff and adapt certain areas.

“Urgent and emergency cases and cancer treatments will be carrying on as normal, but we know many people waiting for treatment will be disappointed or worried, and we will be contacting everyone affected as soon as possible.”

Hospitals have also been told they should “urgently discharge all hospital inpatients who are medically fit to leave”.

Community health providers and social care providers are also being asked to free up beds that could be used flexibly.