As you will be aware, we made the decision on Tuesday 7 October to escalate to Operations Pressure Escalation Level (OPEL) 4 at Furness General Hospital.
This was driven by a high level of acuity, the length of stay for Not Meeting Criteria to Reside (NMC2R) patients and a reduced number of discharges to help with patient flow.
Escalating to OPEL 4 is an important and rare decision and is based on the level of risk to patients and staff. While our hospitals remain pressured and there are still challenges, we have de-escalated back to OPEL Level 3 from 2.45pm today, Wednesday 8 October.
This decision was made because we have been able to discharge patients that has improved flow through the hospital and does not meet the national OPEL 4 criteria.
The site safety and flow meetings will continue to support teams across the Trust in dealing with any issues as they arise.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to you for your dedication and commitment to putting patients first again during difficult circumstances.
Dr Helen Skinner
Chief Medical Officer
Lynne Wyre
Interim Chief Nursing Officer
Dee Houghton
Deputy Chief Operating Officer