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The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has started to affect Worcestershire hospitals with jumps in admissions, deaths and staff absences.
Figures revealed at the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust board meeting on Thursday (Nov 12) showed that admissions rose to ‘five or six’ a day, double what they were six weeks ago.
The Trust now has 63 Covid-19 positive patients at its two hospitals, Worcestershire Royal in Worcester and The Alexandra in Redditch, the highest number since May 1.
Deaths have risen from 281 at the beginning of the second wave to 304, an increase of almost 10 percent.
(Image: David Davies / PA Wire)
While staff absences in part due to positive Covid-19 tests or self-isolation have risen from 49 at the start of the second wave to 224.
Paul Brennan, director of operations and deputy chief executive officer of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, speaking at the meeting, said: “We have identified that the second wave started arriving around September 28.
“We started seeing two to three new positive patients a day, which was offset by highs and sadly deaths.
“Then, from the 16 th October the numbers began to increase.
“We were seeing about five or six positive patients admitted. This morning [Thursday, November 12] there were 63 positive patients at the two hospitals, the highest number since May 1.
“In terms of deaths, at the beginning of the second wave around September 28, we had 281 deaths from Covid.
“That number is now 304, 23 deaths since the second wave.
“The general figures that we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic have had 304 deaths and 649 patients have been admitted but discharged with Covid, which gives a total of 953.”
Staff absences have also skyrocketed as a result of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Staff absences due to Covid have also increased. Right before the second wave it was 49 and now this morning it’s 224, “Brennan added.
He added that the Trust hospital’s intensive care units are again filling up with patients, and a temporary ‘surge’ unit at Worcestershire Royal has reopened with plans for a similar provision at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Those intensive care beds also affect other hospital services, as each bed requires more than five nurses to care for patients.
Mr Brennan said: “We have also started to peak at ITU, which we did earlier this week, when we had 17 patients in our ITU (intensive treatment unit), which is the highest we have ever had. since June. This morning it dropped a little to 12.
“We now have our Augmentation ITU open in Worcester. ITU’s main department in Worcester is now for positive patients. And an ITU raise is for ‘green’ [non-Covid] patients
“At Alex we are still using the main department; we maintain a side room in the main department for green patients if necessary. But basically the ITU in the Alex is positive now.
“We are finalizing the plans that will go to the Gold Command for approval on Friday (Nov 13), which will set the stage for the ITU surge in the Alex, which will increase the capacity for four more beds going to Cedar Ward. .
“If we have to enact what it would be like when we have seven patients in Alex’s department, then that will start to have an impact on other services due to the redeployment of staff.
“For every ITU bed that we open, we have to reassign a little over 5.2 nurses, so four additional beds equates to about 21 people.”
The Trust now has 206 beds allocated for Covid patients out of a total of 777 general and acute beds in the two trusts.
The Trust also has a ‘transmission plan’ to change more beds in its two hospitals for Covid patients, and if that happens 48 more beds would be made available for Covid patients.
At the height of the first wave of the pandemic, it had 309 beds allocated for Covid patients.
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