Half of older Covid patients picked up virus AFTER they went into hospital
ALMOST half of elderly Covid patients were infected during hospital stays, a damning new report shows.
A study of more than 200 cases found 46 per cent of patients on elderly wards had tested positive after two weeks of admission, making it ‘likely’ they were infected while there.
Researchers looked at 222 patients, aged 56 to 99, on elderly wards in the Glasgow area between March 18 and April 20.
A total of 95 of the patients died within 30 days of their diagnosis.
Since the early days of the pandemic, when the study was carried out, supplies of PPE and infection control measures have improved.
Brian Sloan, Age Scotland’s chief executive, said: ‘These figures are quite staggering and demonstrate just how devastating this virus is to the lives of older people.
‘During this particular period we know that there were huge concerns about the ready availability of PPE in hospitals and as such whether there was an effective enough infection control regime on wards.
‘At the time, we had heard from older people who were worried about going to hospital for fear of contracting Covid-19 once there.
‘ There is now a far better understanding of the virus and important lessons have been learned, including ensuring that there is more equal access to medical treatment if older people become unwell with Covid19. We would hope that the picture now looks a lot different.’
The study was led by Dr Peter Davis at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and looked at patients in 17 elderly wards at the QEUH, Gartnavel General and the New Victoria Hospital, all in Glasgow.
Any bug can be spread through hospital environments, particularly when patients are ill and frail. Strict hygiene measures are in place to prevent hospitalacquired infections, also known as nosocomial infections, but Covid can be spread through contaminated surfaces or air droplets, and be brought in by visitors, staff and patients.
The findings are published in the Scottish Medical Journal. The researchers say likely causes of Covid hospital infection would have included a lack of PPE, patients moving around wards and visitors bringing the virus in. Single room wards can reduce the risk of infections but are not available in every hospital.
The report states: ‘103 patients (46 per cent) tested positive after 14 days of admission – this was felt to represent l i kely nosocomial infection.
‘Factors include delay in diagnosis due to atypical presentation, evolving personal protective equipment use in the early stages of the pandemic, patient movement within wards and the wider hospital, availability of single rooms, challenges in containing the “wandering patient”, visitors to hospitals and likely asymptomatic spread.
‘Blanket testing for all newly admitted patients aged 70 and over was only introduced on April 29. Regular and widespread testing of patients and staff along with robust infection control protocols will be key in the event of further outbreaks within hospital settings.’
Scottish Tory public health spokesman Brian Whittle said: ‘The SNP have failed to protect our older people during the pandemic from the very beginning.
‘Jeane Freeman misled the public over the number of hospital-acquired Covid deaths. These new figures must be explained.’
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: ‘This research focuses on the early stages of the pandemic and our understanding of how the virus spreads has increased substantially. The health care setting now is very different, with PPE in place across acute sites.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Since the outbreak of the pandemic, we have worked hard to ensure that infection prevention and control measures in hospitals and other care settings are robust.’
‘Figures must be explained’