‘Major incident’ declared at hospital after 38 covid patients put on ventilators

A major incident has been declared at a hospital in Staffordshire following a surge in the number of Covid-19 patients requiring critical care.

The Royal Stoke University Hospital raised its alert level after 38 ventilators were taken up – leaving just seven available.

There are currently 322 coronavirus patients in beds at the Royal Stoke and Stafford County Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.

Hospital bosses have reached an agreement with neighbouring trusts in Birmingham and Warwickshire to transfer some of their critically-ill patients for treatment in the West Midlands.

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Chief executive Tracy Bullock apologised to patients and families affected by the development.

She said they ‘have been experiencing significant pressure across all areas’ of both the Royal Stoke and Stafford County hospitals – ‘particularly within the critical care service at the Royal Stoke’.

Ms Bullock added: ‘We have put in place a range of measures to ensure NHS resources are directed where they are needed during the Covid-19 pandemic and to make sure that both hospitals, staff and patients remain safe and care is prioritised to protect staff, patients and our services.

‘The decision to transfer patients out of our hospital is not something we take lightly and we would like to apologise to our patients and families who are affected by this.’

She said that ‘given the reduction in the community infection rate of Covid-19 across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent’ it is hoped that ‘this position will be resolved quickly’.

The agreement with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation NHS Trust and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust remains in place until Tuesday and will be reviewed daily.

Royal College of Nursing leader Rob Irving said: ‘We’ve never experienced anything like this before and what it creates is a huge amount of pressure on everybody in the organisation to try to do what’s best for patients.

‘And sometimes when you’re under this kind of pressure those decisions aren’t easy and won’t please everybody.’

He added that ‘the decision to move patients out of the trust’s intensive care’ are ‘last resort decisions’ which ‘won’t have been taken unless absolutely necessary’.

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