NHS needs to change or it won't survive, says MK health service boss whose hospital is nearly full
Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Sarah Cooper
A hospital boss says the NHS needs to change or it won't survive the next 75 years, and has admitted that they're already planning for a 'tough winter'.
The warning comes as the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday amid workforce disputes causing industrial action and waiting lists bulging at the seams.
Speaking to ITV News Anglia, Joe Harrison, Chief Executive of Milton Keynes University Hospital, said it is running close to capacity almost all of the time - and issued a warning that the NHS would not survive another 75 years without changing.
Mr Harrison said: "We normally run at about a 95% bed occupancy, now if that was a hotel, that would be fantastic, however, running a healthcare facility, we know that running at that level of occupancy is not efficient.
"We have to find better ways of looking after our patients so that they don’t need all of the beds that we currently have.”
Milton Keynes University Hospital was opened in 1984, and serves a rapidly growing population in one of the UK's newest cities.
Milton Keynes has a growing population - nearly 300,000, up from just over 200,000 a decade ago - and Mr Harrison said hospitals have to cope with people living longer and developing more complex conditions.
It means record numbers of people coming through the city's accident and emergency department - particularly during periods of extreme weather.
He said: "We've just had our busiest ever day in our Emergency Department, we would normally see about 300 people through our department - we saw 472 people through the department that day - mainly due to breathing difficulties brought about by the high pollen count and hot temperatures.
"We’ve had our busiest day ever recently and we know that this winter is going to be another tough winter for the staff and the team here to get through."
As a result, the hospital is looking to adapt the way care is given to patients - by syphoning off emergency patients who do not need urgent, life-saving care, into a separate 'same-day' emergency facility.
The Maple Centre opened in 2022, and sees around 1000 patients a month - which is about 50 a day.
The seven day a week unit aims to see patients within an hour and send them home within four.
Patients cannot just walk in, as they must be referred by an urgent care centre, GP, 111, Ambulance or A&E.
Staff at the hospital's A&E centre triage patients as they enter, and may send them to the Maple Centre if it is more appropriate, creating more space in A&E.
Mr Harrison said: "Units like this, using 21st century medicine, are absolutely brilliant at helping us to support the increasing demands that we have.”
Patients using the centre said it made the process of seeking emergency help much less stressful.
Thomas Brown started coughing up blood at work several weeks ago and has been in and out of Milton Keynes Hospital since for scans and tests.
After it happened again the 19-year-old was sent to the Maple Centre, which he said was "better" than A and E.
Mr Brown said: "You normally dread coming to A and E, because you think it's going to be such a long process, but because you get seen like that, it's so much better and you feel more confident.
"You know they're going to get it sorted quicker than anything else."
It has prompted some medics and health bosses to call for more units like the Maple Centre to be opened within the NHS.
Dr Dinesh Kumar, Consultant at Milton Keynes University Hospital, said: "I think this is the future of the NHS, because we try to see people on the same day and discharge them on the same day.
"It gives us a flow, the beds are not blocked and a patient gets the same treatment that they would get as an inpatient, they are more happy to sleep in their own bed, they are more happy to go back and look after their kids."
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