QA hospital faces overcapacity as new 24/7 surgical robot is introduced
Councillors are set to discuss bed occupancy pressures and a major new surgical robot at Queen Alexandra Hospital next week.
The report, prepared for the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU), focuses on urgent and emergency care, patients with no criteria to reside, and new schemes to improve patient flow and care quality.
Bed occupancy continues to present a “significant challenge” for the Trust. Overall occupancy remains above 100 per cent of core bed capacity, with medical beds averaging around 127.9 per cent occupied.
On an average day, around 256 beds are taken up by patients who “no longer meet the criteria to remain in hospital but are awaiting transfer to their next place of care.”
The report also highlights the launch of the UK’s first 24/7 emergency da Vinci robotic‑assisted surgery (RAS) programme at QA.
By introducing a fifth da Vinci system, the hospital expects to increase annual emergency RAS procedures from 20 to 500, potentially freeing 1,250 bed days through reduced lengths of stay.
“This development builds on our record of more than 7,000 robotic‑assisted procedures at QA and represents a major advancement in minimally invasive emergency surgery, ensuring consistent, high‑quality care for urgent patients without affecting elective surgical activity,” the report states.
In urgent and emergency care (UEC), the Trust reports that in January, 72.7 per cent of patients were admitted, discharged, or transferred within four hours, against a target of 78.3 per cent.
Approximately 17 per cent of patients experienced waits of over 12 hours.
Ambulance handovers showed a slight improvement, with 59.1 per cent of patients handed over within 15 minutes in January, up from 58.9 per cent in October.
The Trust notes that handover performance remains above the national average and better than the same period in 2024.
To ease pressure on the Emergency Department and inpatient beds, the Trust has introduced a mobile Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) team which “works pro-actively within the urgent care area to identify patients who can be safely assessed, treated and discharged on the same day, rather than being admitted or transferred to the main Medical SDEC unit.”
The report will be discussed at Portsmouth City Council’s Health, Overview and Scrutiny Panel on March 11.