Sheffield Hospitals now caring for as many Covid-19 patients as it was during April’s peak

There are now 299 beds in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals occupied by people who have tested positive for coronavirus, with 19 patients in intensive care units.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust includes the Royal Hallamshire and Northern General hospitals.

This comes according to latest available figures published by the NHS, which refer to the number of beds occupied as of November 3.

At the peak of the first wave in April, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals teams were caring for just under 300 people, with around 35 in ITU.

In recent weeks the number has steadily increased from a low of 20 in August.

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A week ago (October 27) there were 249 patients occupying beds and 18 in ITU.

Staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals asked the public to support them once again during this second surge of COVID-19 cases being cared for in the city.

As the numbers rose last week, Kirsten Major, Chief Executive at the Trust explained that hospitals face even more pressure during the second wave than they did in spring.

She said: “What is very different this time to Wave 1 is that we are also trying to provide as much non Covid-19 care as we can, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. In reality this means that we have an additional 500 non COVID-19 patients in our hospitals today than we did in Wave 1 when all hospitals were asked to cancel planned operations.

"Our teams are working exceptionally hard to try and keep planned operations and care going, however no one should underestimate how complex this is given we have to ensure we keep COVID and non COVID patients separate and we also have an increase in demand through A&E which we did not have in Wave 1.

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"We are also very mindful of the demands we are placing on our 18,000 staff now and in the coming months given this is the second time they have dealt with a surge in Covid-19 cases, planned care is also continuing and we have the normal pressures of Winter and Flu to come still.”

Elsewhere in South Yorkshire, Barnsley Hospital has also reported a significant increase in the number of beds occupied by Covid-19 patients.

The hospital currently has 167 COVID-19 patients receiving care and 14 in ITU.

A spokesperson for the hospital said: “Barnsley Hospital has seen a continued steady increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 this week which is challenging, but the hospital has the capacity to provide the care they need. We are continuing the highest priority planned operations and hope to increase this as the pandemic allows.

"The work done in preparation for this second wave means the hospital is also going to try and continue to provide as much non COVID-19 care as it can assuming it is safe and appropriate to do so. A key factor in this will be if we continue to work together as a community to limit the spread of this virus. The less COVID cases we have, the more non COVID-19 care we can provide.”