Coronavirus Testing: Bolton NHS Confidence Statement When 100 Appear on A&E

More than 100 people showed up at an A&E asking for evidence of Covid-19, prompting a plea from the hospital trust for anyone who was not seriously ill to stay away.

Bolton NHS Trust said dozens of people went to Royal Bolton Hospital because they were unable to enter the testing centers.

The trust says it shows that NHS Test and Trace is “failing,” but the government insists it is “working.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said police and firefighters could soon be used as contact trackers.

It would provide more “rigor” to the national system, he said.

Bolton had the highest infection rate in England with 204 cases per 100,000 people recorded in the week to September 13.

The total number of cases increased from 437 as of September 6 to 587 a week later.

The trust’s medical director, Dr. Francis Andrews, said people should only go to hospital if they are “extremely ill or are referred by their GP.”

“We are very busy in our emergency department as a result of this increase,” he said.

“Only attend this department if you have experienced an accident or life-threatening illness and need urgent medical attention.”

Meanwhile, the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan made a similar request to stay away from A&E.

“We are receiving a large volume of patients who come to the ER and request a COVID-19 test,” he said in a post on his Facebook page.

And the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool has urged parents not to bring their children to their emergency department for a Covid-19 test after a “huge increase” in people requesting tests there.

Professor Donna Hall, president of the Bolton NHS Trust, said the government’s approach was “failing.”

Professor Hall said the situation was different now than in March, when they had additional staff recruited and were not expected to continue with planned operations.

“This failure of the test and trace system is putting great pressure on the NHS and social care,” he said.

“We had 100 people in our accident and emergency unit.

“Now we have 30 people who are positive for Covid and we have five people in our high dependency unit so that this virus does not disappear.

She said she felt there had been a lack of a cohesive strategy for both the containment of the virus and the test and trace system.

Lancashire’s director of public health said the system was at a “breaking point” and was “compromising our ability to stop transmission.”

Teacher Simon Foster said he developed a cough at night and because of his work teaching children with special needs, many of whom have diabetes, he needs to be tested.

“I’ve been trying all day to book an appointment and I still don’t have one,” he said. “It is an absolute disaster.”

“Keep saying there was nothing available [and] there was also no evidence they could mail. “

“I hope it’s just a cough … I can’t go back to work until I get tested.”

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi said it was “more than frustrating,” adding: “The problem is the capacity of the laboratory.

“We have our own testing sites in the community and we run about 200 tests a day. [on Tuesday] we did 1,639 tests. We can’t go on like this. “

The Bolton City Council said a testing center was due to open Saturday at the Last Drop Village hotel, in response to the growing number of cases, but was delayed when “outside business” failed to show up.

A spokesperson said that although the delay was “out of our hands”, the authority was “working with the government and its partners to find out what happened.”

Burnham said 46% of the named contacts were not being traced in Greater Manchester.

He said 100 community support police officers (PCSO) and 100 fire officers would set up a unit to help contact unreachable people.

“It cannot be the case in the future that we cannot fix the tests, trace and isolate and just introduce blanket restrictions. I don’t think people will accept it,” he said.

“We believe that greater rigor in contact tracing, quality contact with people and support for self-isolation would help improve the system.”

Powers are also being sought to introduce “specific” restrictions, such as changing the opening hours of a specific pub or supermarket, added Deputy Mayor Bev Hughes.

He said it was “largely” because people couldn’t get tested.

“They are not massive numbers, I don’t want to exaggerate, but [it] it indicates that people are beginning to worry, ”he said.

“Test and trace is practically in crisis.

“It is a huge concern, and the way testing is rationed is simply not sustainable to effectively contain the virus in the future.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Welfare said that NHS Test and Trace was “working”, adding that the system was “processing a million tests a week, but we are seeing significant demand for tests, even from people who don’t have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible. “

He said no one with an appointment would be turned away, and that new reserve spaces and home test kits would be made available every day.

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