Kirklees NHS bosses brace for tough winter ahead as scale of pressure is revealed
NHS bosses in Kirklees are expecting a tough winter as patients are being treated in corridors and beds are taken up by people who no longer require them.
These insights were brought to light at the latest meeting of Kirklees Council’s health and adult social care scrutiny panel, with winter 2026/27 expected to place “sustained pressures” on health and care services, according to the report.
Increased emergency demand, seasonal respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, workforce pressures and potential reductions in available capacity due to infection outbreaks are listed as key contributing factors.
The report sets out the difficulties being faced at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (MYTT) and the acute mental health services at the South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust (SWYFT). Representatives of each were in attendance.
The meeting heard that there is “very strong system-wide working and collaboration” in place and that “significant planning” has been done to mitigate risks in the lead up to the winter season.
Key pressures across the trusts relate to hospital capacity, patient flow and timely discharge. In the case of CHFT – which covers Calderdale Royal and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary – bed occupancy rates are “consistently” above the national target of 96 per cent, and remained high throughout 2026/27, the report explains.
Between 20 and 25 per cent of the acute beds across the two sites are occupied by patients who are medically fit to be discharged, and classified as “no criteria to reside”.
As of October 14, around 125 patients at CHFT were in this position, the meeting heard. The affected patients are typically elderly with one or more health and care needs on discharge, the report says. They could be waiting for community support in the shape of nursing, therapy or social care, awaiting short term support in a community bed or care home, or requiring long term support in a care home, it adds.
Coun Liz Smaje (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw) wanted to know whether these patients stay in hospital in the short-term or whether any longer-term cases fall into this category.
In response, Renee Comerford, interim director of operations for resilience, acute flow and transformations at CHFT, said: “There will be some patients who are with us for longer than, say 21 days, with no criteria to reside. There aren’t many but we review those patients everyday to look at what we can be doing differently because there might be all sorts of other reasons why they can’t be discharged…we’re all working together to support that patient to go home.”
As for the situation at the other NHS trusts, in Mid Yorkshire – which covers Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury and District hospitals – the number of no criteria to reside patients occupying beds has increased throughout the year and currently averages around 18 per cent of the bed base.
In a report discussed later in the meeting on the clinical service review at MYTT, figures from 2025 expose further strain, showing that eight per cent of A&E attendances involved “corridor care”, which is well above the national average of five per cent. In just one year, there were 12,000 patient transfers between hospitals, with 586 patients transferred between sites twice or more.
The meeting’s chair, Coun Akhtar Kasia (Kirklees Independents, Batley East), asked questions on the matter and was given assurance that the Mid Yorkshire trust is working to tackle the issue by Chief Nursing Officer, Talib Yaseen. Part of this is through addressing the no criteria to reside challenges to free up space and preventing people from attending A&E when they don’t need to, he explained.
Coun Kasia said following the meeting: “Nobody wants to see patients being treated in hospital corridors. These are people who are ill, frightened or in pain. They deserve dignity, privacy and proper care.
“When the trust is reporting corridor care affecting around eight per cent of A&E attendances, compared with a national figure of around five per cent, we need to understand why and what is being done to bring that figure down.”
He also spoke of the “staggering” number of transfers after the meeting and added: “This isn’t about criticising hard-working NHS staff. They’re working under enormous pressure. It’s about making sure the system they’re working within is actually delivering for patients.”
The meeting’s report also goes into detail about acute mental health services at SWYFT which reported that 23 patients across adult and older people’s inpatient services were clinically ready for discharge but delayed. The longer delays were primarily associated with housing, social care, specialist placement, complex needs or legal restrictions.
Chris Lennox, director of mental health services at SWYFT, confirmed that while cases of people who stay in hospital longer than they need to may be smaller in number in the mental health service, they can be “highly complex” cases.
The meeting’s report highlights the “limited operational headroom to respond safely to fluctuations in demand, acuity, temporary bed closures or delayed discharge” within SWYFT’s acute mental health services as occupancy rates cause significant strain.
Adult inpatient wards have continued to operate above the recommended 85 per cent occupancy level, it adds, with Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit occupancy “frequently” above 95 per cent. Several wards are said to be operating at 100 per cent.
Panel members also had questions about severe weather and the challenges it may pose this winter.
In response to a question from Coun David Birch (Reform, Holme Valley South), CHFT’s Renee Comerford said that emergency planning for adverse weather events is “really well rehearsed”, and that she is “confident” that services can respond to need in this area.