Leak reveals rise in Covid patents at our hospital

THERE are now more than 150 Covid patients in Burton, Chesterfield and Derby’s hospitals, a leak has revealed.

Documents released by a source at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, shows that there are now 124 Covid19 patients at the trust, up from 90 on Monday. This is half the number of patients the trust had during the peak of the pandemic – 250.

This comes as the organisation has refused, since Monday, to disclose how many Covid patients its staff are caring for.

It did predict the number would surpass 100 and announced the reintroduction of severe visitor restrictions.

It has consistently refused throughout the pandemic to disclose the number of patients in its intensive care units.

According to the documents, of the 124 patients, 91 are at Royal Derby Hospital and six patients are in intensive care – this is triple the number two weeks ago – with 32 on October 8 and 13 on October 1.

Meanwhile, the documents state there are 33 Covid patients at Queen’s Hospital in Burton with three in intensive care.

Derby had around 150 Covid patients during the peak of the pandemic, with 100 in Burton, with 20 intensive care patients at Derby and 10 in Burton.

Chesterfield Royal Hospital readily disclosed yesterday that it now had 29 Covid-19 patients – up from 25 on Monday and 22 last week, 10 of whom are in intensive care. It had around 80 Covid patients during the peak of the pandemic.

The leaked document contains notes from yesterday’s Derby and Burton trust bronze command [executive leaders] meeting. It shows that the organisation has had outbreaks of Covid on four Royal Derby Hospital wards, all of which have now been closed.

The document shows that the hospital trust is increasing the number of Covid-19 wards at both Derby and Burton and has 55 beds left. It says this is because it cannot admit to the closed Derby wards and there are also eight closed beds at Queen’s.

Plastic screens are being installed in ward 101 (accident and emergency) at Royal Derby. The trust is looking into how it can isolate patients in assessment areas.

Security staff had been used to carry out ward transfers of patients during the first wave of Covid, it says, but this has been stood down.

The leak says that, so far, 3,900 Derby and Burton hospital trust staff have been tested for Covid-19 – out of around 13,000 overall – and that 35 have tested positive for the virus. The trust says this “includes all outbreak areas, so that is lower than expected”. It says the “emphasis is on looking after our staff, with a difficult winter ahead”.

Alongside this, it says that “there is a move nationally to go to regular testing for all NHS staff, but they haven’t got the capacity to do that in full just yet”.

It says that transmission of the virus in the region is high in younger age groups, followed by a “pause” before the spread of infection among older, more vulnerable people.

Staff accommodation provided by the trust on site will stop from November 1, but the organisation will provide some locally instead.

The document says hospital staff

who are 28 weeks or more into their pregnancy are “no longer required to shield – but individual risk assessments are necessary”.

There are now 1,027 Covid inpatients across the Midlands of which 116 are in intensive care, the leak details.

Sharon Martin, executive chief operating officer, said: “We are very concerned about the rising prevalence of Covid-19 in our communities, which will inevitably lead to a rise in admissions at our hospitals.

“The trust medical director advised our communities on Monday that our hospitals are beginning to get significantly busier. At that time the trust advised that it had seen a significant increase in admissions for patients who are Covid-19 positive and expected the number to rise further.

“We’ve been open with our communities throughout the pandemic about the challenges the pandemic presents.

“We anticipated that the number of Covid-19 positive inpatients would rise above 100, and this has sadly proved to be the case. As a result we took the difficult decision to restrict visiting, which we know will be distressing for many families.

“We are one of a small number of trusts who have been selected to test staff without symptoms as part of a national pilot to help us understand the disease better and prevent its spread. But it’s no secret that, as infection rates rise, so do hospital admissions, that’s why it’s really important that everyone takes action now to prevent more people getting sick from this disease.

“We would encourage everyone to follow the government guidance of ‘Hands, Face, Space’, which will slow the spread of the virus. The public can also help by using the most appropriate service to receive care or help and advice, including NHS111, local pharmacists or their GP. But it’s important that anyone with significant health concerns continues to come forward for help and treatment.”