The flu wave is hitting our country and consequently the hospitals in Brabant are also quite full. It’s a trial and error to get all the patients in, but the influx is still manageable in most hospitals. In some places, some planned operations have to be postponed, says Marieke van Bommel on behalf of Brabant hospitals.
We’re currently dealing with the biggest flu wave since spring 2020. “We’ve experienced this before, but now the added complexity is that we’re understaffed,” says Van Bommel. In addition, various respiratory viruses are now circulating, such as the influenza virus, corona virus and RS virus.
Operations postponed
At the Amphia in Breda all sails are being pulled in to meet the demand for treatments. “More patients go to the emergency room than there is available bed capacity,” says spokesperson Mark van Hassel. “Other hospitals don’t have space to accommodate Amphia patients. As a result, unfortunately only one operation was canceled this week.”
This is also the case in the Elisabeth-Tweesteden hospital in Tilburg, where half an extra ward has been set up for people with a respiratory infection. “We are reducing the number of operating rooms, which means that a certain number of operations have to be postponed,” says Marieke van Bommel, who she cannot say exactly how many there are.
Calmer waters
At hospitals in Bravis, MMC, Bernhoven and Elkerliek, scaling was supposed to happen over the holidays, but things have calmed down a bit since then. “All emergency care continued and there was very little planned care anyway due to the holiday period,” says Suzanne Anbeek van Bernhoven.
Also in Helmond there are no consequences for nursing or operational capacity. “We currently have seven flu patients in the home and four corona patients, all of whom are being treated in isolation rooms,” spokeswoman Hetty Remmers said.
