Covid ‘glimmer of hope.’.. but still a long road out of pressure
NEW PATIENTS AND STAFF ABSENCES STARTING TO FALL
THE number of people currently in the area’s hospitals with coronavirus has been released as bosses describe seeing a “glimmer of hope”.
As infection rates continue to fall and there was a reduction in staff off absent, Dr Chris Clayton, chief executive of the Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said there is still a long road back out of the current pressures but it was looking positive.
It comes as there are still 138 patients with Covid in Burton and Derby’s hospitals, one of whom was in intensive care.
Of these, 105 patients were at Royal Derby Hospital (one in ICU) and 33 are at Queen’s Hospital in Burton. The hospitals are run by the same NHS trust organisation.
This is down from 212 Covid patients two weeks ago, at which time there were 169 patients with the virus at the Royal Derby (two in ICU) and 43 at Queen’s.
While the current figure remains high, it does represent a drop of a third (35 per cent) in two weeks.
Dr Clayton wrote that one of the biggest challenges still facing the healthcare system was the ability to discharge patients from hospitals once they are medically fit.
Continued delays in this area, with hundreds of medically fit people occupying NHS beds, meant new patients could not be admitted and may have long waits for beds.
Part of the delay was caused by the time and expertise needed to discharge patients to care homes or to their own homes with a detailed package of support. This has been hit hard by staff shortages and covid outbreaks.
This had caused Derbyshire County Council, for example, to call on members of its staff who work in other areas to volunteer for shifts in care homes.
Staff absences at the hospital trust had hit record highs – 13 per cent at Derby and Burton – several times the normal level, causing major implications for care.
Dr Clayton wrote: “The health and care system remains under pressure, with the priority at present being around creating flow of hospital capacity.
“This is so that we can continue to treat our patients who are most in need of urgent care whilst also keeping our flow of urgent elective and cancer cases going.
“Within this challenge, there are glimmers of hope as we start to see infection rates in the community and the absence levels of staff reducing.
“All of this will contribute to us being able to increase the capacity of our services and care for more patients or residents, but this will take time.”
Tracy Allen, chief executive of the Derbyshire Community
Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, wrote that the easing of Plan B could pose issues.
She wrote: “Whilst many of us would understandably welcome greater freedoms, there remains uncertainty about a potential rebound in infections and it is important to note that the NHS is still operating under extremely challenging circumstances.” Ms Allen warned: “The position across the system remains critical and will remain so into February.”
There are glimmers of hope as we see infection rates and the absence levels of staff reducing. Dr Chris Clayton