Number of people in hospital with the infection has tripled
THE number of Covid-19 patients in beds at Royal Derby Hospital has tripled in two weeks.
There are now 141 Covid positive patients being cared for at the hospital, which had around 150 patients at the height of the pandemic in April.
However, the hospital has eight Covid patients in its intensive care unit which is lower than the 20 seriously ill people it was caring for during the April peak.
Meanwhile, Queen’s Hospital in Burton has 49 Covid patients, of which six are in intensive care. This is around double the number it had under two weeks ago. It had 100 Covid patients during the first peak.
Queen’s and the Royal Derby are run by the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.
It says that in the last 10 days – from October 24 – 41 patients have died with Covid in its hospitals.
Government data shown during the national lockdown announcement on October 31 showed the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust has had Covid patient numbers over half of the previous peak every day for the past week, from October 23-30.
The hospital trust put out a statement at the end of last week saying: “The rising levels of Covid-19 in our communities has meant that we have seen an increase in the number of Covid-19 infected patients we’re caring for in our hospitals.
“We are working hard to provide the best level of care that we can for our patients and we are doing everything we can to keep our hospitals safe.
“We learnt a lot during the first wave, so we are better prepared and we are using this insight to improve our treatment of Covid-19 patients and protect others from the virus.
“During the summer we restored services affected in the first wave and this means the number of patients in our hospitals is greater this time, which also means there is more pressure on our staff and resources.
“We have not yet had to cancel planned services such as routine surgery, however, we may have to make some difficult decisions if the level of Covid-19 admissions doesn’t slow down.
“Our priority will always be the most clinically urgent patients, but we know how distressing delayed treatments are for everyone.
“We want to reassure our communities that our hospitals are safe and it is extremely important that anyone with significant health concerns continues to come to us for help.
“All inpatients are tested for Covid-19 on admission and those who test positive are cared for in separate wards to those who test negative. All patients are re-tested every seven days to ensure they remain Covid-19 negative.
“If you have an appointment booked with us, please make sure you attend so you can continue with your treatment.”
Chesterfield Royal Hospital has 46 Covid patients, of which 13 are in intensive care. This is almost double the number it had under two weeks ago.
It had 80 Covid patients during the first peak.
Late last week, Angie Smithson, chief executive at Chesterfield Royal, said: “We are very concerned about the rising prevalence of Covid-19 in our communities, which will inevitably lead to a rise in admissions at our hospitals.
“There is no doubt that the situation in our hospitals is becoming more serious and with rising rates of Covid-19 our hospitals are starting to struggle.
“Right now we are seeing a continued increase in the number of patients with Covid-19 who require hospital treatment, including intensive care.
“This is affecting our ability to continue to conduct some non-urgent operations. We have to allocate extra beds in our hospital to look after patients who are acutely unwell – who need to be oxygenated or ventilated.
“Inevitably this means our capacity for elective surgery is less than it would ordinarily be.”
Residents are being encouraged to continue coming to hospitals if they require care but to use NHS services “wisely”, to wear a face covering when doing so, wash their hands regularly, uphold social distancing and abide by local restrictions.