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Hospitals and ambulance services grapple with two to three times the rate of staff illnesses two to three times higher than usual as increasing numbers of NHS workers fall ill or find themselves in isolation amid a huge rise in infections at Covid.
Absence rates in some hospitals are now between 8% and 12%, down from the normal health service level of 4%, just as the NHS is under the greatest pressure in its history.
The large number of frontline staff on sick leave leads to a shortage of staff in intensive care units and forcing patients to wait outside in ambulances.
“Hospitals and other trusts experience higher levels of staff absences because they don’t feel good with Covid or isolate themselves because of it,” said Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers.
She added: “Staff absences can translate into longer waits for care, and as we are seeing now, often not under ideal conditions, such as in ambulances where they cannot deliver patients.”
At a Midlands hospital, 8% of the workforce was on leave on Wednesday. However, the actual rate of staff not working was actually 14%, including the 6% on annual leave, one executive said.
“We currently have twice as many sick employees as we usually would, which is perhaps not surprising at a time when infections are on the rise locally,” the official said. “This obviously translates into increased pressure on an already tired and hard working workforce. We are doing everything we can to support our staff, but these are extremely difficult times. “
Some trusts have responded by limiting staff leave, to help fill the workforce gap. The Royal Free Hospital in Camden, London has a maximum discharge of 72 hours.
In a note to staff on Tuesday, the Royal Free explained that due to the enormous effort to treat 424 Covid patients, “all staff have seen all study leaves canceled and today the plan is to limit all holidays to only three days, and if you can, cancel all holidays booked in January. This is the demand for all groups of personnel ”.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals have fewer banks, locums and other temporary workers to call on to replace their own staff, Cordery added.
“This means there will be more strain on the staff who are working, and when the demand is high and the patients are incredibly sick, it puts tremendous pressure.”
She said when a trust thought it no longer had the staff to keep services safe, it “sought the support of others, including diverting ambulances and emergencies to others. hospitals ”.
Quick guide
Who in the UK will get the new Covid-19 vaccine first?
The UK has become the first Western country to authorize a vaccine against Covid. On December 8, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first patient in the world to receive her. The government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has released a list of groups of people who will be prioritized to receive a vaccine for Covid-19. The list is:
1 All those 80 and over and health and social service workers.
2 All those 75 and over.
3 All those 70 and over.
4 All those 65 and over.
5 Adults under 65 at high risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19.
6 Adults under 65 at moderate risk of risk of serious illness and death from Covid-19.
7 All those 60 and over.
8 All those 55 and over.
9 All those 50 and over.
10 Rest of the population.
The approval of the Oxford / Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday sparked new calls, from NHS leaders and unions representing staff, for frontline staff to be urgently vaccinated.
Danny Mortimer, executive director of the NHS Confederation, urged the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) to review its list of groups to determine the highest priority for immunization, and to move health workers and of care in this category, alongside residents of nursing homes and staff.
“The need to minimize staff absences to respond to the continued pressure caused by the virus and to support the roll-out of the immunization program should be key factors in JCVI’s advice to government,” Mortimer said.
Professor Andrew Goddard, President of the Royal College of Physicians, said: ‘Primary health and care staff need to be vaccinated as a priority within the next two weeks, as the current pressures on the NHS will be impossible to bear without a form and protection. Workforce.”
Staff groups claim that vaccinating frontline workers will reduce sickness absence and thereby protect patients, reduce the risk of hospital-acquired Covid outbreaks, reduce the number of NHS staff treated in intensive care units or dying after catching the disease, and will help maintain overloaded services.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, Chairman of the Board of the British Medical Association, said: “With 100 million doses of this vaccine already ordered, we need to see a dramatic shift in distribution so that doctors can protect their patients and their communities, starting with the most at risk. – and most importantly, it must include health and social service workers as they confront the virus on the front lines.
JCVI said it considers health and frontline care staff to be at increased personal risk because they care for vulnerable people and therefore have a high priority for immunization.
A JCVI source said: “Protecting them protects the health and welfare service and recognizes the risks they face in this service.”
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