More than 1,000 NHS staff in Devon are off work due to Covid
Across Devon impacts continue to be felt as the number of NHS staff off work because of Covid keeps rising
Devon's NHS currently has 1,062 staff absent due to Covid-19 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 sat waiting outside Torbay Hospital in a long queue - with ambulance bosses saying waits are now 'higher than we’ve ever seen before'.
The queue came just hours after Plymouth's Derriford Hospital declared a critical incident.
Ian Currie, Medical Director, 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. Â
“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 per cent of all current NHS staff abscences 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.”
Councillor Mary Aspinall, a former midwife who now sits on Plymouth's City Council's health scrutiny committee, says while people should use the NHS appropriately- she's urging those who need help to still come forward.
She's concerned we're still weeks away from the expected Omicron peak here in the South West, saying: "We know how hard the entire UHP team is, and has been, working throughout the pandemic and I would like to extend my personal thanks to them.
"People will naturally be concerned that this critical incident has been declared however, with almost 500 staff absent because of Covid, this was the only safe course of action UHP could take.
"It shows exactly how the approach of Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid and the Conservative government to tackling Covid-19 is failing us all yet again. Their continued inability to get a grip on this virus is having extremely worrying consequences.
"We need to see urgent action from the Health Secretary to address the crisis we are facing in our city.
"It also underlines how this is still a highly contagious illness which continues to derail normal life and we all have a responsibility to do our bit to contain it, whether that is wearing masks as required in shops and on public transport or getting vaccinated whether it’s your first, second or your booster.”