People with coronavirus fears told not to walk in at hospital

MEMBERS of the public walking into Hillingdon Hospital off the street worried they have coronavirus is a key concern for NHS workers in west London, a union representative has said.

GMB senior organiser Gavin Davies said that in a visit to the Pield Heath Road site last week the staff had “serious concerns” of the influx of Covid-19 patients coming to the hospital hitting the hospital’s capacity.

Hillingdon is not a designated hub for treating coronavirus patients, but according to the union’s London health rep, staff are expressing fears they could come into contact with the disease from suspected cases coming to A&E.

Mr Davies said: “NHS workers have told us they are concerned people are going in [to hospital] rather than following the government advice.

“As soon as somebody says ‘I’m a suspected Covid-19 case’ then they have a duty of care.

“The staff are obviously not walking around in protected clothing all the time.”

“If everyone follows the guidelines then we are not running the risk of putting anyone else at risk, and you are creating unnecessary anxiety for people that you come into contact with. The advice is there for a reason.”

National advice urges people not to attend A&E, urgent care or walk-in centres or your GP if you are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.

Instead, you should call the NHS 111 service to find out what steps to take.

Hillingdon Hospital announced it was closing its doors to visitors on Wednesday March 25, as a way to stop the virus spreading.

It said on Twitter: “All wards CLOSED to visitors in response to #Covid19. We’re really sorry that we’re not currently allowing visitors in our #hospitals. We no longer feel we can prevent the risk of spreading the infection if we continue to allow visitors to our hospitals.”

It said certain “exceptional circumstances” could be allowed, such as if a patient was at end of life or had an additional need such as dementia.

■ The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Trust has announced 12 deaths at its hospitals due to coronavirus.

The deaths cover patients hospitalised and testing positive for the virus during the period from March 18 to March 26.

There were two deaths on March 18, one on March 21, one on March 22, four on March 24, two on March 25 and two on March 26.

The confirmation on Saturday from the NHS is the first time that any deaths under the trust has been announced.

The two hospitals operated by the trust are Hillingdon Hospital and Mount Vernon Hospital. It has not been confirmed at which hospitals the deaths occurred.

The figures are based on submissions made to NHS England between 5pm on March 26 and 5pm on March 27.

The news follows the announcement that as of 5pm on March 27, of those hospitalised in the UK, 1,019 have died.

This is an increase from 759 deaths in the UK at 5pm on March 26.

The deaths do not necessarily occur in this 24-hour window. It is up to the trust when they submit the data based on informing the deceased’s family members and further tests if required.

The amount of people in the UK that have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK stands at 22,141, according to figures released on Monday, with 1,408 deaths.

This is an increase of 180 from the previous day.