Displaying items by tag: NHS Providers

Hospitals in London are facing a ‘tsunami’ of coronavirus cases and are beginning to run out of intensive care beds. Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, said that while critical care capacity had been expanded, hospitals in the capital had seen an ‘explosion’ in demand. A third of the UK cases have been diagnosed in the city. Staff absence rates due to infection are at 30% to 50%, as hospitals desperately struggle with wave after wave of seriously ill patients. Mr Hopson said an extra 4,000 beds soon to be available at London’s ExCel centre will be used up very quickly in the peak, which is two or three weeks away. From April all routine operations will be cancelled for three months, and as many patients as possible will be discharged from hospital. These two measures could free up 30,000 of the 100,000 hospital beds in England alone.

NHS field hospital sites in Scotland will be identified ahead of a predicted rapid rise in coronavirus cases. Chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said, ‘We have had quite detailed discussions very recently and I know that there are sites being considered.’ Referring to comments by the vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that the dramatic explosion in coronavirus case numbers in London could be replicated in Scotland, she said, ‘Unfortunately, he is absolutely right. We have people with mild illness, which we know 80% of people will experience - but up to 20% of people will have a much more significant illness.’