Number of Covid patients in hospitals at Grimsby and Scunthorpe at highest level for almost a year
The NHS trust has urged people to think carefully whether they need to come to A&E during the crisis
Last updated 4th Jan 2022
The number of Covid patients in northern Lincolnshire hospitals has reached the highest point in nearly a year.
The NHS trust has urged people to think carefully whether they need to come to A&E during the crisis.
There are 67 patients who have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Lincolnshire and Goole hospitals, with a growing number of them requiring intensive treatment.
Although the Omicron variant is believed to be milder than previous strains, the sheer number of cases is still increasing the number of people in hospitals.
31 are in Grimsby (with two in ICU) as of Tuesday morning and a further 36 are in Scunthorpe (with one in ICU).
The last time the number of Covid patients was this high was late February 2021, while the country was still in lockdown.
The trust has said it isn’t currently in danger of declaring a ‘critical incident’ due to staff shortages like other hospitals have been forced to in recent days.
A spokesperson said that the trust is very busy but currently coping.
It was asking people to consider people who need help whether there were more appropriate routes than A&E.
The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust announced that there would be “compromised care” due to staff shortages on Monday, with at least six others also declaring critical incidents.
On Friday, NLAG’s Chief Operating Officer Shaun Stacey said the trust was seeing a spike in patients with all kinds of problems.
“The hospital has seen a sudden rise in people attending with a wide range of symptoms over the last two days,” he said.
“Obviously we’re seeing a small increase in people attending who have Covid symptoms or are experiencing concern that they may have symptoms.
“But we’re seeing all sorts of things – people with tummy troubles, people with chest infections and people who are short of breath.”
The trust issued a statement online saying: “Do you really need to come to A&E? Your health will always be our priority and our teams are working extremely hard to provide emergency care to those who need it.
“However, our hospitals in Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole are experiencing very high levels of demand.
“We also have high numbers of patients on our wards and increasing numbers of Covid-19 positive inpatients. If you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do, please call the NHS 111 line for advice from their specialist clinical team.
“You can also speak to your GP or pharmacist for advice and, if you live in North East Lincolnshire or are registered with a GP in the area, you can call the Single Point of Access (SPA) clinical team on 01472 256256.
“Anyone coming to A&E who doesn’t need urgent emergency treatment is likely to have a long wait, as we will always prioritise seeing patients in the greatest need of our care. Thank you for your understanding.”