Quarter of Covid deaths at four NHS trusts ‘caught in hospital’

MORE than a quarter of patients who died with Covid at four NHS trusts most likely caught the disease in hospital, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

It comes after this newspaper disclosed that 11,600 people died after they went into hospital with other illnesses, and “probably” or “definitely” caught Covid while they were there.

The four are the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which topped the list, after 213 patients who had been admitted for other illnesses “probably” or “definitely” caught Covid on its wards – accounting for a third of all the trust’s Covid deaths.

It was followed by Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust, with 151 deaths at 29.5 per cent and two trusts in the North West. At Stockport there were 170 deaths making up 28 per cent of Covid deaths and at Mid Cheshire there were 141 deaths accounting for 27.4 per cent of Covid deaths.

At a fifth, Dudley, West Mids, patients who died with Covid and most likely caught the disease in hospital accounted for 24.8 per cent of Covid deaths.

Rosie Cooper, Labour MP and a member of the health and social care select committee, said the “scale” of deaths following Covid infections caught in hospital “is not acceptable”.

The Telegraph sent Freedom of Information requests to every NHS trust in England asking how many patients had caught Covid in their hospitals since March last year and how many of these patients had died. The responses revealed that out of the 40,229 patients who caught Covid while being treated for other conditions, 11,688 later died.

The true scale of deaths following hospital-acquired Covid is likely to be higher, as some trusts refused to disclose recent data. “Probable” cases are those where the patient tested positive eight to 14 days after being admitted into hospital, and “definite” cases are 15 days or more after being admitted.

NHS England has argued that the analysis is “flawed” because the 11,688 figure includes both probable and definite cases of hospital-acquired Covid.

Countess of Chester, Stockport and Mid Cheshire trusts said that staff had followed infection control procedures.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Foundation Trust and Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust did not comment on the figures.