Fearful families of elderly coronavirus patients insist they remain in hospitals

Discharge of sufferers is hindered as carers and relatives worry about own exposure to killer disease

HOSPITALS are struggling to discharge suspected coronavirus patients because carers and families are unwilling to risk exposing themselves to the disease, it has emerged.

NHS doctors have warned that beds are being filled by elderly patients who do not require intensive care but are effectively stranded.

Jacob de Wolff, a consultant in acute medicine at Northwick Park Hospital tweeted that returning coronavirus patients to their homes was “tougher” than admitting them for care.

He added: “Persistent oxygen requirement, delirium, loss of mobility. Carers and family unwilling to risk exposure, nursing homes worrying about transmission to other residents.” Dr De Wolff added that the concerns of relatives were not “unreasonable”. On

Thursday, Northwick Park, in Harrow, north of London, declared that it had temporarily run out of space for patients requiring critical care. The hospital had reported 15 deaths related to the virus.

Other NHS doctors said transport companies had been refusing to take patients home. One said that care homes were asking hospitals to test patients for the virus before discharging them, even if they had no symptoms and had been in hospital for unrelated reasons.

“Hospitals are going to fill... this is what will break the system,” claimed one doctor in response to Dr De Wolff ’s tweet.

In post on the British Geriatrics Society’s website, Mark Roberts, a consultant in medicine for older people, said: “If no social care packages to facilitate discharges are available, our hospital system will gridlock, leading to congestion and poorer outcomes for older patients that no bountiful supply of intensive care capacity can help.”

The NHS has produced a leaflet for hospitals to give to patients who doctors decide can be discharged.

It states: “It is important that our hospitals are ready to look after people

An anonymous consultant at a hospital in northern England says a third of her ICU consultant colleagues are in self-isolation

My family have gone into self-isolation because I started to develop a cough. I have conflicting feelings. You don’t want to be away from work unnecessarily. Equally, you want to be following the rules and not putting anybody at risk. My symptoms are fairly mild. I contacted our infection control department to find out if I could get a test. The problem is, in the early stages, it can be possible to have a negative test when the viral load is not high enough to be picked up. I know there are problems with the volume of tests and the speed we can get them back. My message is this: no matter how frustrating, it is crucial that people follow the rules. As a group of consultants, we have been tracking closely other countries and we knew what was coming.

Yet there is a significant chunk of the population that believe this is somebody else’s problem. I’m told around a third of our ICU consultants are currently in self-isolation. The general public needs to be told more strongly that they need to self-isolate. But I also think healthcare workers need a way to get to work if safe. who contract coronavirus (Covid-19) and need hospital care. Due to these pressures, once you no longer need care in hospital, as decided by the health team looking after you, you will be discharged.

“You might need some extra support, for example with your care needs or shopping.

“If you require more complex out of hospital care, this could be in another bed in the community, for example a residential nursing home.

“Your needs and discharge arrangements will be discussed with you.”

The struggle to discharge suspected coronavirus patients comes after a former Scottish Government adviser and nursing chief was criticised for claiming the pandemic would be “quite useful” in killing off hospital bed blockers.

Prof June Andrews told a Holyrood committee earlier this month that the virus would alleviate pressure on the NHS by taking some elderly patients stuck in hospital “out of the system”.

In a message to staff on Thursday night, Northwick Park Hospital said: “I am writing to let you know that we have this evening declared a ‘critical incident’ in relation to our critical care capacity at Northwick Park Hospital.”