COLCHESTER Hospital is facing an “unprecedented” demand on waiting lists due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.

The hospital is running at 96 per cent capacity for general and acute adult beds.

Chief executive Nick Hulme told an All Party Parliamentary group the current situation is almost “nigh on impossible” to properly manage.

However, operations are still underway despite the pressures and a spokesman for the hospital said some specialties were even carrying out more procedures than usual in a bid to reduce waiting lists.

Recent figures for the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust – which runs Colchester and Ipswich hospitals – saw the percentage of patients waiting four hours or less in A&E fall from 90.5 per cent in July 2019 to 86.3 per cent in July 2021.

This is despite the numbers of patients seen in A&E falling from 28,000 in July 2019 to 26,000 in July 2021.

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With staff shortages continuing and hospitalisations increasing, Mr Hulme said the hospital is preparing for a challenging winter ahead.

He said: “It does feel actually worse than many winters that I’ve experienced over the years because of the added complication of Covid.

“We know there’s pressure right across the healthcare system and we are certainly feeling that across our acute hospital sites and indeed in other parts of ESNEFT.

“But we have been planning for it and our teams are working incredibly hard to continue to provide safe and compassionate care for our patients.

“We know it will be a challenging winter, but we will be prepared.

Layla Moran MP, chairwoman of the All Party Parliamentary Group, said hospital admissions were “exponentially higher” compared to this time last year when the UK was just weeks away from a winter lockdown.

She added: “With experts describing staff shortages, workers ‘battered by the system’ and an expected surge in seasonal flu, we should be extremely worried about a potential disaster for the NHS this winter. The Government must increase resources for the NHS and outline how they intend to improve conditions and address the mental health crisis facing healthcare workers.”