Almost 300 patients believed to have contracted Covid at QEH
There were 137 suspected infections in January alone
Nearly 300 people are believed to have contracted Covid-19 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Figures from NHS England show there were 293 cases between August of last year and the 21st of March, where patients at the QE are thought to have been infected while being treated for other conditions.
In January alone, it's believed 137 people contracted the virus while in the hospital.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, Trust cared for 1,159 Covid-19 patients between August 1 and March 21 – meaning 25% are thought to have contracted the disease in hospital.
This is above the 17% average for all NHS acute trusts across the East of England.
Across England, 40,670 people are thought to have been infected with Covid-19 in hospital since August – 15% of all inpatients with the disease.
Rob Harwood, chairman of the BMA consultants committee, said:
"The NHS went into the current pandemic underfunded, understaffed and overstretched, and the knock-on effects – such as limited bed capacity – has unfortunately meant that controlling the spread of Covid-19 within hospitals has been more difficult than necessary.
"For some time now, the BMA has been calling for the Government to urgently address issues that would go far in ensuring the hospital environment is as safe as possible.
“NHS staff have been working tirelessly under extraordinary conditions – there’s no doubt that the spread of the virus throughout hospitals will have only increased stress levels for both patients and staff."
He added that many doctors reported fearing catching the virus after seeing colleagues becoming seriously ill, and that ensuring staff and patients are protected would enable the NHS to tackle the backlog created during the pandemic.
An NHS spokesman said:
"The ONS and other data conclusively demonstrate that the root cause of rising infection rates in hospitals is rising rates in the community.
"Since asymptomatic tests kits were made available for the first time by the Government’s Test and Trace programme in November, millions of staff have been tested helping to keep infections as low as possible, and all staff have been asked to rigorously follow Public Health England’s infection control guidance with hospital infection rates currently standing at around 4.2%."
The QE did not offer a statement when contacted.