It takes a day and a half to get a bed on a ward at Torrevieja Hospital

The flu curve, which rose sharply before Christmas and held hospitals at 90–95% capacity until last week, is slowly going down. Even though fewer people are going to the emergency room for this reason, some hospitals are still quite busy. For example, in Torrevieja, patients have to wait up to a day and a half (39 hours) for a ward, while in Alcoy, individuals have to wait 15 hours for a room, and the waiting rooms are filled. In addition, there are waiting lines at Sant Joan Hospital and Doctor Balmis Hospital. By late afternoon and evening, gurneys are in the hallways.

There is still a lot of demand on healthcare services, and there are also concerns with bed availability at a crucial period in January when surgical activity and scheduled care need to start up again. Dr. Juan Francisco Navarro, president of the Valencian Society of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and head of service at the Elche University General Hospital, said this after the Valencian Ministry of Health (Sivira) released data from the most recent respiratory infection bulletin, which was for week 3 of the year.

People who are 80 years old or older

This shows that fewer people in the province of Alicante are being admitted to the hospital for respiratory infections, both in the Emergency Department and on the wards. The over-80 age group has seen the most improvement. This has helped lower the total number of hospitalisations, but the improvement isn’t the same everywhere, and some hospitals are still too busy. The number of people coming to the hospital with the flu, which is the most common respiratory infection, is still high enough to put a burden on hospital capacity.

In this case, it’s also important to mention that the number of cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is rising. It is becoming more and more like the flu as a reason for hospital admission and care for moderate and severe cases.

So, based on what workers and unions (CCOO) have said, this week at Torrevieja Hospital, up to twelve patients have been waiting to be admitted to a ward. People who have been waiting the longest have been waiting for more than 39 hours, which is more than a day and a half. In this hospital, the Emergency Department cubicles are still full, and some rooms have two people in them, although not as many as in previous weeks.

Waiting

Orihuela is another centre that is quite full, with fifty patients in the Emergency Department and half of them waiting to be admitted, even though there are no beds available in the hallways.

The Emergency Department and exam rooms at the Virgen de los Lirios hospital in Alcoy are both very busy. “There are no beds in the hallways, but it takes 15 hours to get a room.” Sources say that there are no beds available if they don’t discharge any patients.

After weeks of exceptionally high occupancy, the Elche University General Hospital no longer has patients without a bed, but the centre is still full.

All of the patients at the Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante have beds. Workers claim, “The pressure changes from moderate to high depending on the time of day.” They also warn that there aren’t enough nurses and nursing assistants.

Beds in the hallways

As the day goes on, the demand in this centre rises, which often means that mattresses have to be set up in hallways, especially in the afternoons.

Sant Joan Hospital is also still quite busy, with roughly ten patients coming in every day from the Emergency Department and waiting to be admitted to a ward. “We don’t have enough beds, so we have to wait for people to leave before we can go to a ward.” We are short on staff in all areas, and the pressure is still on even if we have more workers, which isn’t enough because we don’t have enough permanent staff.

At this centre, there are fewer urgent cases of respiratory infections, but more cases of vomiting and diarrhoea.

The Virgen de la Salud hospital in Elda and the Marina Baixa hospital are both seeing the most improvement. Both hospitals have mild strain on services, and there are “no excessive delays or incidents.” There aren’t any delays that are unusual.

The Dénia Hospital has likewise been able to keep from being too full in the last few days.