NHS Warning as record number of people admitted with coronavirus
RECORD numbers of people are being admitted to hospital in Bristol with coronavirus, as cases surge again in the city.
NHS bosses across Bristol have warned that hospitals in the city are experiencing a ‘high level of demand’ as the number of people being admitted to hospital with coronavirus continues to increase.
The latest figures from the two trusts that run Southmead Hospital, the BRI and Weston General show that, as of Tuesday this week, there were 275 people suffering from Covid-19 so badly, they need treatment in hospital.
Twenty of those – ten at Southmead and ten at the BRI – are sedated and on mechanical breathing ventilators, while more than 250 are being given oxygen treatment.
The 275 in hospital is higher than at any point during the pandemic. During the first wave in April and May, the numbers of people being treated for Covid at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, for instance, never went above 100 at any one time – now it is approaching 200.
A spokesperson for the NHS in the Bristol area said there were ‘robust plans in place’ to manage the pressures, but that the hospitals were ‘currently experiencing a high level of demand’.
The warning came after images of ambulances queuing outside both the city’s main hospitals were shared on social media by frustrated paramedics, with some revealing they were left queuing for five hours to get the patients they had brought to hospital handed over to staff inside.
The latest figures show that on Sunday, January 3 – the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston trust saw 30 people admitted to the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Weston General Hospital suffering from Covid, the highest daily total ever.
On the same day, the most recent day the Department of Health has released figures for, another 15 people were admitted to Southmead Hospital, meaning that on the Sunday after New Year, 45 people were taken to hospital suffering from coronavirus in Bristol and Weston – the highest total ever.
Most worryingly for NHS bosses, the numbers of patients with the virus is expected to rise yet further in the coming days, because of the time delay between catching the virus and needing hospital treatment.
The number of people catching the virus over Christmas and New Year doubled in Bristol, and if people with covid need hospital treatment, it’s usually after around ten days after they catch it.
In the week up to Christmas Day, 817 people tested positive for Covid19 in Bristol. In the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, that more than doubled – 1,738 people tested positive.
This week, paramedics shared images of the queues of ambulances outside both the city’s main hospitals.
One image showed 17 ambulances outside Southmead Hospital on Tuesday, while another showed more than half a dozen ambulances queuing outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Paramedics told the Post that, while they are not experiencing a huge increase in the number of calls overall, the coronavirus distancing restrictions within the hospital itself mean patients are having to wait inside ambulances to be seen, rather than in corridors, as in previous winters.
One paramedic said that before Christmas they were picking up one coronavirus patient a week, on average, to be taken to hospital, and since Christmas on some days it is ‘ every other call out’.