Weaknesses that led to patients getting Covid in hospital remain (England)

[Northerner]

Almost as soon as the pandemic struck early last year, NHS England recognised that patients catching Covid-19 while they were in hospital for non-Covid care was a real risk and could lead to even more deaths than were already occurring. Unfortunately their fears have been borne out by events since – every acute hospital in England has been hit by this problem to some extent.

Over the last 15 months various NHS and medical bodies have looked into hospital-acquired Covid and published reports and detailed guidance to help hospitals stem its spread. They include the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) and Public Health England (PHE). Last May, for example, PHE estimated that 20% of coronavirus infections in hospitalised patients and almost 90% of infections among healthcare staff may have been nosocomial, meaning they were caught in a hospital setting.

Weaknesses that led to patients getting Covid in hospital remain

Analysis: While some problems have been addressed, another wave could hit the NHS hard

www.theguardian.com

 

[Amigo]

After shielding totally for many months last year, I was admitted as an emergency into the local hospital. Even as an immunocompromised patient with blood cancer (and as then unvaccinated), I was still put in a 4 bedded room with a shared bathroom. I was assured everyone had been tested for Covid but it wasn’t true because I asked the other patients. Most were eventually tested but because it was an Assessment Ward, the throughput was endless and the configuration of the Ward changed twice overnight! I felt compelled to sleep wearing a mask. So none of this surprises me but it wasn’t any fault of the staff. The older hospitals have mainly shared facilities with a severe lack of necessary single rooms.
In fairness to the staff, they took immense risks as I know from my relative who is a nurse there and contracted really severe Covid. They did what they had with the resources available.