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We have been told for months that hospitals are open to the public and patients are encouraged to keep routine appointments.
One reason for this public relations move is that healthcare environments were virtually deserted during the first wave of the pandemic, patients were kept away for fear of being a burden and for fear of contracting the virus.
Hospitals are full of both again COVID-19 and non-Covid patients and, as our analysis of NHS England statistics shows, large numbers of patients contract the disease while in hospital.
That is precisely what patients are concerned about and precisely why the government has been talking about routine tests in hospitals for months.
The most recent figures reveal that of the 12,903 new hospital cases of Covid in England between September 18 and October 18, 1,772 were acquired in the hospital.
Most of the cases detected in the hospital occurred in the Northwest, 765 in total, that is, 17% of the total number of hospital cases in the area.
Although there were only about 700 new hospital cases in the Southeast, it has the highest proportion of cases detected on-site: 23% of those new cases were contracted in the hospital.
We have been talking to several doctors who are not surprised by the statistics.
A doctor, who was asked not to be named, says his hospital is putting lives at risk.
He has recently been isolating himself and has just returned to work caring for critically ill patients.
However, she has not been tested and she fears that every day she could pass the virus (if she has it) to people who are already very sick.
A nurse who works for Barnsley Hospital has had similar experiences.
He paints a picture of chaos in the hospital, more than 200 staff members are ill or isolated and he fears that there are not enough staff to provide safe care.
The hospital has told you that any staff member who has tested positive in the past does not need to re-isolate themselves if they come into contact with someone who is infected; contrary to government guidance.
That email was later withdrawn, but it illustrates poor standards and communication.
He is also frustrated that routine tests are not performed, despite the government advising that all hospitals in high-risk areas must perform them.
In a statement to ITV News, Barnsley Hospital said it “communicates regularly with staff about operational pressures including how many employees are currently self-isolating due to Covid.”
“These numbers fluctuate daily, but overall they have been steadily increasing in line with the increase in cases in the community.
“In hospitals across England, the Covid-19 pandemic is a fast-paced and ever-changing situation.
“Barnsley Hospital is no different and our internal communications reflect this.
“All patients are tested for Covid upon admission and again after five days.
“We have seen recent increases in patients testing positive at day five, although as ONS and other data conclusively demonstrate, the leading cause of the increase in Covid infections and hospitalizations is increasing community transmission.
“Hospitals are asked to rigorously follow regularly updated guidelines on infection prevention and control, and unsurprisingly, nosocomial numbers have tended to track increases in prevalence in the local community.”
Tracy, with whom we have spoken on the phone, is not surprised by Barnsley’s wills.
His mother was admitted to Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne after a fall.
Although she was slowly recovering, the hospital recommended that she be discharged in case she contracted Covid.
Tracy asked to be tested before returning home, where her elderly father also lived, but the hospital said it would not be necessary.
Sadly, Tracy’s mother had Covid and passed it on to her husband.
Tracy’s mother later died from the virus.
It’s a gruesome tale and one that according to Tracy could have been avoided had Tameside’s health and safety regimen been better.
A spokesperson for the Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to Ms. Hale on the loss of her mother, Jean.
“We appreciate how difficult the last six months have been and would like to invite Ms. Hale to contact our PALS and grievance team, who will be able to advance her concerns and support her in obtaining the information she is looking for.”
There is no doubt that the coronavirus has tested the NHS like never before.
The entire healthcare system has been under pressure since the New Year and many would agree that it would be rude to start pointing fingers now.
There is never any guarantee that Covid can be kept out of hospitals, but the problem is, as I understand it, that there is now capacity for hospital staff to be routinely screened and it was confirmed on Monday that this will be enacted.
By the end of next week, all NHS staff facing patients will be asked to test themselves at home twice a week with the results available before starting work.
Health Editor Emily Morgan Explains How NHS Staff Testing Will Work
Why are some hospitals already doing it and others not?
I think it’s also important to ask why doctors don’t get tested once they return to work after isolating themselves. And why aren’t all patients tested before they leave the hospital, to make sure they’re not returned to the community?
NHS England says they have asked all hospitals to strictly follow Public Health England’s infection control guidelines and support is offered to the health service to ensure their implementation.
So what do you do when infection control doesn’t work? When will hospitals in England be forced to test staff on a weekly basis? Some believe it is costing lives.
Tracy believes her mother was one of them.An NHS spokesperson said: “The evidence is clear that where Covid infections in the community are high, NHS staff and patients are also more likely to be affected.
“Now that Test and Trace has expanded the national testing capacity, all patients are tested upon admission to the hospital, and regular testing of asymptomatic NHS staff has also begun, with more than 70,000 employees screened in the last days”.
