Snow Joke

Jan 28, 2010

As you couldn’t possibly have failed to notice, January 2010 has seen Britain experience some of the heaviest snowfall in recent memory. Up and down the country roads have been blocked, schools have been closed, workers have been complaining and kids have been wondering what all the fuss is about and just enjoying it.

But for workers in the Healthcare sector there’s a darker side to all this bright white snow. In fact, for many healthcare and medical professionals all this snow means one thing: an increase in the number of slips, falls and other physical injuries that need to be dealt with.

We’ve all seen the news reports discussing the importance of salt for gritting Britain’s roads and preventing road accidents. Indeed, with freezing temperatures and heavily compacted ice, road accidents have seen an increase, and injuries related to these accidents can, of course, be very serious.

But it is not accidents caused by slippery roads that will be the biggest contributor to hospital admissions over these icy weeks: instead, it will be accidents caused by the less reported, but often even more slippery, pavements. Indeed, with salt shortages reported across the country, many councils have been reserving their supplies solely for roads, leaving pavements extremely treacherous for pedestrians.

Slips and falls can often be very minor, if quite embarrassing, but for many people falling on an icy pavement can lead to injuries that require medical attention. For the elderly, broken wrists, hips or even worse can be a very real risk in the event of a fall; and even for those in excellent health an awkward slip can lead to breaks, twists, dislocations and other injuries.

It is precisely this type of injury that has been filling hospital waiting rooms in January, and while most people will require only minor treatment, the sudden increase in the quantity of patients can put a huge strain on already stretched healthcare resources. And this in turn can lead to longer waiting times for patients with more serious illness or injuries. Indeed, many hospitals this month chose to delay non-emergency operations to ease the pressure on the system.

Rangeeta Bhamra, manager of Arrows Group Healthcare division thinks that improved resource management can play a major part in resolving this problem: “in weather like we experienced in January not only do hospitals see a greater number of injuries, but they may also be suffering staff shortages because those people have been unable to get into work. Arrows Group Healthcare has a number of solutions for healthcare providers requiring additional staff, whether for permanent or short-term roles, or even for one-off cover at short notice. Adding this kind of additional resource at times of high demand can ease the pressure on the system and ensure that the sort of minor injuries this weather causes can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. This means that patients with more serious illness or injury also get treated sooner, and everyone benefits.”