Clive Lewis calls for urgent help at the Norfolk and Norwich
He's written a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock
Clive Lewis has sent a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock calling for urgent help for the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in the fight against Covid.
The letter points out the hospital is treating three times more Covid-19 patients than at the last peak of the pandemic, putting it near its breaking point.
Military personnel are having to help out at the overstretched hospital
- Drafting private hospitals and their staff to support the frontline efforts in the NHS
- Stepping up efforts to vaccinate all health and social care workers
- More decisive action to help prevent community transition
Clive Lewis said: "I feel so sorry for the wonderful staff at our N&N and everyone in health and social care in our city. They are at the sharp end of what has become a quite terrifying local healthcare crisis.
So much of this trauma, illness and death was avoidable. Per capita, the UK has the highest Covid death rate in the world. As a spokesperson for the Health Foundation think tank said last week, "we've run our system too hot for too many years" which has "left us vulnerable".
But it's still not too late for the government to take immediate action which could make a big difference to staff and patients at NNUH and other hospitals."