The Prime minister announced that the NHS is to re-mobilize three ‘Nightingale” Hospitals in North England. NHS bosses placed overflow hospitals in Sunderland, Manchester and Harrogate on standby by to prepare for the coming wave of COVID-19 hospitalisations.
At a Downing Street briefing on Monday morning Professor Johnathan Van-Tam, PHE’s Stephen Powis and Manchester Royal Infirmary intensive care consultant Dr Jane Eddleston warned that the coming months could see a continued increase in Coronavirus cases and many more deaths.
Dr Eddleston reported a threefold increase in the number of patients admitted to intensive care in the last week and an eightfold increase in the number of patients in hospital. Eddleston said: “30 per cent of our critical care beds are taken up by patients with Covid. This is starting to impact on the services we provide for other patients.”
Voice Britannia has reported previously on how close NHS hospitals in England have been to the breaking point in recent months. There are currently 3,837 COVID-19 patients in UK hospitals; with room for another 10,000+ patients. However, the reality is that while it looks like there is space in the system, that space is not divided equally obscures the fact that some hospitals are already at their breaking point.
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