Hospitals have been asked to free all beds for the growing number of Covid patients amid fears of a high death toll from the disease in January.
NHS England has warned that the health service as a whole must remain at the highest level of alert until at least the end of March because of the continuing influx of critically ill patients, made worse by the new strain of coronavirus.
It comes as NHS trust leaders in England said the intense pressures ahead were “very challenging” and that almost as many Covid patients were now hospitalized in April. “As we enter the new year we are seeing a significant increase in pressure on NHS services, particularly across London and the south east,” said Saffron Cordery, deputy head of NHS Providers.
In a six-page letter to NHS care providers on 23 December, health service leaders said: “With patient numbers within Covid-19 rising in almost every part of the country, and the new threat posed by the In addition to the changing nature of the virus, you should continue to plan on the basis that we will remain in a stage four event for at least the remainder of this financial year and that NHS trusts should continue to They are moving safely on the increased capabilities available over the coming weeks. ”
Covid UK cases
A consultant at Southampton general hospital said: “Our intensive care unit’s footprint is now completely full of Covid patients. We have expanded our ICU by an additional 10 beds to take ICU patients from both Portsmouth and Kent because of their rigidity. [The situation] that it is so far under control but unpleasant and frightening. ”
Dr Rupert Pearse, a senior intensive care specialist in London, said the recent rise in infections would lead to more hospitalizations and deaths in the coming weeks. He tweeted: “Like the first wave, the sharp rise in people testing positive for Sars-CoV-2 will be followed by a sharp rise in hospital admissions for Covid-19 and then a similar increase in further deaths in January. ”
Hospital doctors warned that a lack of staff in the service could pose a risk to patients.
“It is surprising, but still disappointing, to hear that the NHS will be at ‘level 4’ for months as the level of infection is affecting the level of vaccinations and it takes four weeks from first dose to immunity ”, said Dr Nick Scriven, who was immediately president of the Society of Medical Medicine.
“Compliance means moving any bed space that can be used and extending staff to look after patients there – often outside the ‘normal comfort zone’ of staff – such as for example, medically ill patients on surgery wards, or even safer opening ‘moth’ fields and dispersing thinner than usually considered best or even safer workers. And this will definitely mean putting off selective care again, ”said Scriven.
In their letter, NHS Development chief Amanda Pritchard and NHS England chief financial officer Julian Kelly told hospitals that, where possible, they should refer patients who need surgery to health facilities. local private, the number of patients in the hospital discharged and prepared for Nightingale field hospitals openly.
In a vivid picture of the pressures on hospitals, London’s free Royal Infirmary – which receives around 12 new Covid patients a day – has cut off all non-emergency surgery to mid-range. February and limited staff holidays.
It’s gone “terrible”, said one doctor there. “All staff groups, from carriers to surgeons, have had their licenses suspended from 21 December. Only a maximum of five days, including bank holidays, will be allowed from now on. Definitely putting off the staff Christmas holidays. They have also postponed all non-emergency surgeries again until mid-February. So the hospital is not really dealing. The 12 Covid applications every day have quickly overtaken the space, ”they said.
It is also understood that Basildon hospital in Essex is under a lot of pressure and admits dozens of Covid-positive patients every day on some days. Cardiff and Vale University Health Board in Wales has issued an application Twitter for medical students and NHS staff to help in their emergency care department. He later said he had found the volunteers he needed but the unit is “still very busy due to Covid-19 and winter pressures” and staff were still “challenging”.
Dr Sonia Adesara, a London doctor, tweeted: “My hospital does not currently have ITU beds. No additional CPAP (non-invasive ventilation). We have spent the last 12 hours caring for people in their 50s, 60s, 70s who have the highest oxygen we can provide. Trying to keep them breathing so we can unleash their potential.”