Charing Cross Hospital Prepares for 'Challenging' Winter 

With increased demand for services and new junior doctors' strikes

Claire Hook, chief operating officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, says, “We expect the next few months to be very challenging

December 18, 2023

Charing Cross Hospital is gearing up for a “challenging” winter, with higher demand for its emergency services and two new strikes by junior doctors, starting this week.

The British Medical Association (BMA)  has announced plans for two further junior doctors’ strikes from 7am on Wednesday 20 December to 7am on  Saturday23 December.

The second strike will last from 7am on Wednesday 3 January to 7am on  Tuesday 9 January, 2024.

The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) is also planning a junior doctors' strike for the same period this week.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which includes Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea and St Mary’s Hospitals warns that these strikes will have a significant impact, and its priority will be to ensure everyone’s safety. 

The trust says, “We will continue to run urgent and emergency services throughout the strike, including our A&E departments and maternity units. But we will need to reschedule most of the planned operations and outpatient appointments that are currently booked for this period. 

“ If we need to reschedule your appointment, including if we need to change it to a virtual appointment, we will contact you directly as soon as possible to tell you. We will arrange a new appointment as soon as we can. 

“ We are expecting a challenging few days, with extended waits in our A&E departments. We encourage anyone who needs non-emergency medical help or advice to go to NHS 111 online. But, if you need emergency care (for instance if someone is seriously ill, injured or their life is at risk), you should continue to call 999.”

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The trust says it is already seeing higher demand for its accident and emergency departments, while it is continuing to tackle the long waits for planned care that built up during the pandemic and more recent periods of industrial action. 

It has been awarded an additional £2.7million to help care for more patients, with winter initiatives including opening an extra 24 staffed-beds across St Mary’s and Charing Cross Hospitals, and employing additional doctors in emergency departments to speed up the admission and discharge of patients.

There will also be extra care for older, frail patients,  helping them get the care they need with ongoing frailty support services to avoid unnecessary admissions.

The  ‘same day emergency care’ services (urgent care away from the emergency department, without the need for an overnight stay) will be expanded, enabling direct referrals from NHS111 and London Ambulance Service, allowing suitable patients to bypass A&E completely. There will also be additional space provided for this service at Charing Cross Hospital. 

Patients who become critically ill will get the care they need as quickly as possible by moving to 24/7 availability for critical care outreach teams at St Mary’s, Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals.

Patients will also be helped to go home as soon as possible using Homelink, a clinician-led service providing hospital-at-home care, to help people who are medically fit to leave hospital but who need some extra support.

There will be more use of “virtual wards”, where suitable patients can be digitally monitored from home, a service which cared for over 1,600 people last year.

‘Turnaround’ times will be reduced by opening the  discharge lounge at Charing Cross until 7pm, providing a comfortable space away from the wards for patients to wait before they go home.

The trust adds that it is also focusing on the health and wellbeing of staff this winter, with services which include on-site winter vaccine hubs, free breakroom supplies (funded by Imperial Health Charity) and an expanded staff counselling service. 

Claire Hook, chief operating officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, says, “We expect the next few months to be very challenging. Our teams have put in a huge amount of work to make the most of our capacity this winter and ensure we continue to provide the best possible care.”