Survival rate of intensive care coronavirus patients has improved
Coronavirus patients admitted to intensive care have a better chance of surviving now than when the pandemic first hit the UK, new data shows.
A report from Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) looked at patients admitted to intensive care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland up to August 31, as well as those admitted from September 1,
On average, just below 12% of critical care coronavirus patients have died since the start of September, compared to 39% up to the end of August.
Speaking to the BBC, Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine Dr Alison Pittard, warned the difference was likely because not enough time has passed to properly assess the outcomes of those admitted to hospital in September.
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Many patients will still be in critical care and won’t be included in the data until they either pass away or are discharged.
Dr Pittard said: ‘There are lots of reasons why the mortality rate reduced over time but the biggest thing is we have learnt more about the disease.
‘In the early days we were, almost immediately that people were admitted, putting them in ICU, sedating them and putting them on a ventilator. We started to use more non-invasive ventilation and patients were doing very well.’
The figures come as the number of Covid-19 cases in hospitals continues to surge across the UK.
Speaking during Friday’s coronavirus briefing, Boris Johnson said soaring hospitalisation figures had played a role in the introduction of Government’s new three-tier system.
He said: ‘These decisions were necessary because of the rate of increase not just of infections but also in hospitalisations and admissions to intensive care.
‘Without action, there is no doubt that our NHS would soon be struggling to treat the sheer number of people seriously ill with Covid.’
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