Patient care unaffected during Olympic cycling road race weekend

It was ‘business as usual’ at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital yesterday during the men’s Olympic cycling road race—even though road access to the hospital was severely restricted throughout the day.

The hospital’s Emergency Planning team and frontline clinical staff worked alongside local authorities to ensure that women in labour, parents of sick children, and relatives of other seriously ill patients were able to get to the hospital without delay.

On Saturday 28 July:

• 9 women gave birth in our Maternity Unit
• 260 patients were treated in A&E
• 99.2% of these patients were seen and treated within 4 hours (most were seen much more quickly)
• 32 patients were admitted to inpatient wards
• 19 patients were taken home by Patient Transport drivers

Dominic Clarke (2012 Olympic Lead) says: “Thanks to the efforts of staff from all areas of the hospital we were able to maintain our services for patients at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, despite access to the hospital being much more difficult than usual.

“I would like to thank all staff who have gone the extra mile to ensure our patients have continued to receive the best possible care—in particular Catherine Sands (Head of Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity) and Trevor Post (Operations Logistics Manager) for their meticulous planning in advance of this weekend.”