Hospitals in West have fewest virus patients
But Covid admissions rising fast in parts of our region
THREE of the Westcountry’s five hospital trusts currently have the lowest percentage of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients of anywhere in England.
Figures from NHS England and the Health Service Journal based on the position as of Monday, January 11, show that the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, which runs North Devon District Hospital, has the lowest percentage of adult acute beds occupied by Covid-positive patients at just three per cent.
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has just five per cent of beds occupied, while University Hospitals Plymouth (Derriford Hospital) had eight per cent of beds occupied – the only three trusts in England where the number was below 10 per cent.
In contrast, at least ten hospital trusts of the 123 in England have half or more of their adult acute beds occupied by Covidpositive patients, with 45 of them having at least a third of their adult general and acute beds occupied by patients with coronavirus.
The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust is currently seeing 17% of its beds occupied, with the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust at 12%. But Plymouth rose by 6.8% and Cornwall by 6.7% in a week, showing there is no room for complacency.
ASAILOR who made more than 35,000 facemasks is one of two officers from RNAS Culdrose who have been singled out for their exceptional contribution and service in the Royal Navy.
Warrant Officer (WO1) Scott ‘ Barney’ Barnett is to be presented with a commendation by the head of the navy, the First Sea Lord, for his part in producing more than 35,500 face masks in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 46-year-old, who lives in Mullion, was inspired to start producing visors in the spring of 2020.
The Merlin helicopter air engineering officer helped set up a group of fellow 3D-printing enthusiasts in Cornwall to begin producing visors at home.
He is also part of Culdrose’s Innovation Hub, which quickly turned its 3D-printers to the same purpose and enlisted volunteers from across the station to produce thousands of masks which were handed out widely across Cornwall.
Speaking of his praise last year, First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said: “I was delighted to hear about what Warrant Officer Barnett has achieved. Collaboration and teamwork are at the heart of the Royal Navy ethos, and to have set up a group in his spare time that has delivered assistance to the local community on this scale is superb.”
Warrant Officer Barnett said this week: “It’s nice to get that recognition. It was something I really enjoyed doing. I remember thinking at the start that if I could make 100 masks, that would be amazing.”
Meanwhile, Warrant Officer (WO1) Robert ‘Bob’ Holborn, aged 57 and from near Redruth, is to be handed a meritorious service medal for his distinguished service of 40 years.
He left what was then known as Redruth Comprehensive School at the age of 17 to join the Royal Navy as a naval airman aircraft handler, part of the team which specialises in firefighting and manoeuvring aircraft on ships’ flight decks. He is now the most senior warrant officer of the Aircraft Handlers’ Branch and works at Culdrose’s Royal Naval School of Flight Deck Operations, helping train men and women as new naval airmen.
His long service has seen him serve in the ships’ company with the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious, HMS Ark Royal and HMS Invincible, as well as the warship HMS Ocean, and lately with the new carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. In between deployments and periods at the training school, Warrant Officer Holborn has served as an instructor with new recruits at the Cornish training base HMS Raleigh and back at the fire station at Culdrose’s airfield.