Covid idiots ...and heroes
...but still people head to our county in defiance of rules
‘Snow tourists’ caught after their car flips over, police called to break up a birthday party and a convoy of bikers heading to the hills - just some of the many fines handed out to stop lockdown breakers heading for Derbyshire... at the same time, our doctors and nurses are fighting to save lives as the number of Covid patients in our hospitals reaches new high,
THERE are now more than 500 Covid-19 patients in Derby and Burton’s hospitals – more than double the number in the first wave of the pandemic.
In total, there are 670 Covid-19 patients in Royal Derby Hospital, Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Queen’s Hospital in Burton, another increase on last week’s figure.
For context, before Christmas, this figure stood at around 300, in midOctober it was 75 and for much of the summer very few Covid patients were being cared for.
However, although Covid inpatient numbers are soaring to double the level seen in April, the numbers in intensive care are below that seen in the first wave. This, say health chiefs, is down to improved treatment options and understanding of the virus, with patients less likely to reach intensive care than before.
There are now, as of yesterday, 388 Covid-19 patients at Royal Derby Hospital, more than double its previous record high in the 160s and nearly 40 more than a week ago. Intensive care staff are treating 19 patients, below its peak in April of nearly 30.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital is treating 146 Covid-19 patients, around double its first wave high of 75. It is, however, lower than last week when it had 158 patients with the virus. It has 15 Covid patients in intensive care, close to its high of 17 in early April.
Queen’s Hospital in Burton is treating 136 Covid-19 patients, down from 141 last week, its second consecutive drop. It has nine patients with the virus in intensive care, close to its record of 11.
During a Derby City Council health meeting last week, Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB), said: “It is a really big challenge. Just to reassure people, the hospitals are responding well. We are able to discharge patients that we need to and to maintain flow. Increasingly now, our general and acute beds are being switched from green [non Covid] to red [Covid positive].
“The most critical factor is critical care capacity. We are accommodating a large number of patients but there is some good news here. In terms of our numbers of patients in critical care, it is similar to the level that we saw in wave one.
“There’s probably two reasons for that. One is the treatments we are able to offer patients mean that
when they are admitted to hospital they are less likely to require critical care treatment, so things like dexamethasone (which UHDB helped contribute to research on), and also we have increased the other treatments we can use outside of critical care like high-flow oxygen and something called CPAP, which is a way of giving patients an increased level of oxygen to help them while they are in respiratory distress.
“It is a really challenging picture and I’m rather hoping that the latest lockdown will start to feed through, but of course, there is a lag – community infection figures sort of lead the hospital and we catch up a few weeks later and people become very poorly and inevitably are admitted to us. It is a really difficult situation, but it is being managed. We have a bit of a ray of hope with the vaccine but now is not the time to take our foot off the pedal.
“I think it will take a number of months before there is sufficient immunity within the population so that prevalence is at a sufficiently
low level that we can start to make some risk-based judgements about getting back to normal.”
A spokesperson for Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “We continue to experience extremely high demand on our services, both with the usual winter pressures we’d normally see at this time of year; and with cases of Covid-19. With around 150 patients confirmed positive for coronavirus, we have double the number on our wards we saw at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.
“Our staff are providing exceptional care in challenging circumstances and our operational plans are enabling us to be flexible – so we can adapt at pace. We would urge our communities to continue to follow the guidelines of the national pandemic, to practice ‘hands, face and space’ to help to protect the NHS. Thank them for everything they are continuing to do, right now, to support our hospital and primary care services.”