Covid: Army drafted in to help support hospitals in Leicester
The Army is deploying personnel into NHS hospitals across Leicester to help out amid widespread staff shortages as Covid cases continue to rise.
The chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has told ITV Central: "We have got army support coming in the next couple of days and that certainly will be an added benefit."
Richard Mitchell added: "Whether we declare a critical incident or not, only time will tell.
"I do think we’ve got good plans in place. I think we’ve got exceptionally good colleagues working at UHL and beyond, and all the actions that could be taken within a critical incident we are already taking.”
"We have got army support coming in the next couple of days and that certainly will be an added benefit."
He also explained to ITV Central of the three main "key challenges" the region is facing.
Mr Mitchell said: "The first is we’re seeing the levels of staff sickness increase, as we continue to see an increase in community covid.
"The second is increasingly we are caring for patients with Covid in the organisation - the numbers have doubled over the past couple of weeks.
"Thirdly, we are seeing normal levels of emergency patients coming into UHL.
“Similar numbers to Derby so this time of year we’d normally have people off with winter flu and other winter conditions. We are seeing those people off at the moment.
"The difference between this year and say four years ago is we’ve also got those colleagues off with covid at the moment so staffing is tight.”
It comes as covid related absences in the NHS have risen by 60% in the past week. Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases recorded in the UK hit more than 179,000 in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, health bosses in the Midlands warn the growing number of Covid patients is causing increased disruption to the health system.
Dr Caroline Trevithick, who is the Executive Director of Nursing for Leicestershire and Rutland's Care Commissioning Group, said some hospitals are having to cancel and delay booked procedures.
She told ITV News Central: "The impact on our hospitals is huge at the moment. We're having to cancel some of our booked procedures."