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ARCHIVED - Alicante hospitals suspend urgent operations due to Covid pressure
Alicante General Hospital has cancelled surgeries due to a rise in the number of patients hospitalised with coronavirus
A surge in the number of Covid patients being treated in hospitals across Alicante province is forcing more and more operations to be suspended, in particular those requiring admission to the ICU.
The situation has reached a critical point at Alicante General Hospital, which, with 13 patients admitted to ICU, took the decision on Monday January 10 to suspend several urgent surgeries this week, according to health and trade unions.
Sources revealed that, in addition to a rise in the number of critically ill patients, there has also been an increase in sick leave amongst medical and nursing staff, due to Covid, which prevents newly designated areas from being opened up to admit the most seriously ill patients as has been done in other waves of the pandemic.
According to data from the Medical Union, there are currently 127 health professionals on sick leave at Alicante General Hospital.
Management this week confirmed that "the suspension of operations requiring admission to the ICU is temporary and due to the increase in the number of hospitalisations over the weekend", when more than 29,000 new infections were reported.
Afternoon operations requiring ICU admission at the General were cancelled weeks ago, and services such as Traumatology are currently operating at 50%, according to hospital sources who assured that management is working on "the urgent opening of new areas for the admission of critical patients".
Meanwhile, San Juan Hospital has been forced to reorganise its operating theatres and put certain surgeries on hold to keep beds spare for Covid hospitalisations and ensure there's enough staff to deal with the increase in patients.
Amongst the operations affected are endoscopy, arrhythmia and haemodynamics, where only emergencies are being attended to. As is the case with the General, the Traumatology service has halved its activity and only treats fractures, tumours and pathologies that do not require hospitalisation.
There are currently 63 people admitted on general wards at San Juan Hospital, and 10 patients are in ICU, according to the union CCOO, which has slammed the lack of nursing staff reinforcements in both intensive care and paediatric emergencies.
And the pressure is also being felt at the General Hospital of Elche, where afternoon operations have been significantly reduced. Sources have warned that if the situation continues, further surgeries will be suspended on Wednesday January 12.
However, morning operations are being maintained by prioritising those that do not require hospitalisation, and urgent surgeries have not been affected.
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