More than 1,000 NHS staff across Devon currently off work due to Covid
The figures have been revealed after Derriford Hospital declared a 'critical incident'
Devon's NHS currently has 1,062 staff absent due to coronavirus and people are being urged to only head to A&E if absolutely necessary.
On Tuesday night a video was posted online showing 22 ambulances waiting outside Torbay Hospital, with ambulance bosses saying waits are now 'higher than we’ve ever seen before'.
The queues were pictured just hours after Derriford Hospital in Plymouth declared a critical incident.
In a statement at the time, Chief Operating Officer of the University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Jo Beer, said they had 500 staff off sick for reasons linked to coronavirus.
She said: "We took the decision to escalate to the highest level of internal incident because this allows us to be able to take additional steps to maintain safe services for our patients and help us cope with the growing pressures".
We have spoken to former midwife Mary Aspinall, who is on the city council's health scrutiny committee and fears the situation could get worse...
Speaking about the ambulance queues outside Torbay Hospital, Ian Currie, Medical Director of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Like many hospitals across the country, we continue to be under sustained pressure in our emergency department as has been reported previously.
“Patient safety is always our priority. We always aim to see and treat patients as quickly as possible.
"All patients arriving at our emergency departments are triaged and assessed with the most clinically urgent being prioritised.
"We would like to offer our sincere apologies to everyone who is waiting for treatment or who has experienced a wait.
“High pressure is continuing to impact on our ability to admit patients in a timely way which means that ambulances are currently waiting to discharge patients and we are not able to see people as quickly as we would like.
"Our dedicated staff are working extremely hard to care for people who need our services.
"We thank everyone who has been waiting for care for the patience, understanding and kindness they are showing to our staff".
A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re sorry that some patients are having to wait longer for an ambulance as a result of health and social care being under severe pressure.
"The most significant impact is the length of time it’s taking us to hand over many patients into busy hospitals, which is higher than we’ve ever seen before.
"It’s an absolute priority for us and for our NHS partners to reduce these delays, so crews can get back out on the road for other patients.
“Our people are working incredibly hard day and night to enable us to be there for our patients, while prioritising those who are most seriously injured and ill".
Just over 40% of all current NHS staff absences in Devon are due to the virus.
Across Devon there is currently 175 inpatients with Covid, after the number increased by a third in a fortnight.
Nationally 90% of people in intensive care with Covid-19 have not had their booster and 60% are unvaccinated.
Dr Paul Johnson, Chair of NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group said: "The number of patients in Devon’s hospitals with Covid-19 has risen by a third in the last fortnight, as has the number of staff who are off work due to the virus. There are currently more than one thousand hospital staff across Devon off due to Covid-19.
"This is having a huge impact on services, with some inpatients being cared for in areas which aren’t normally used for those purposes, planned procedures are being reviewed and the least urgent being postponed and some staff have been redeployed.
"I want to thank patients and their families for their patience. Our staff are doing their very best to care for people in very difficult circumstances. I also want to thank everyone who has supported the NHS by having their Covid-19 vaccinations. We know that being fully vaccinated, including the booster dose, reduces the number of people of all ages needing hospital care.
“You can also support the NHS, by thinking carefully and choosing the most appropriate health services. You may be able to get immediate help using NHS 111 online or visiting your local pharmacist".