Morecambe Bay hospital trust stands down from critical incident
A week-long 'critical incident' at hospitals in north Lancashire and south Cumbria has been stood down.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust instigated the alert on 3 January after staff shortages, caused by coronavirus.
The absence rate reached 12% - meaning around 1,000 people at the trust were unable to work.
There was also a huge rise in the number of Covid patients from 35 on Christmas Eve to 125 in the New Year.
Today, 11 January, the Trust said it is 'still experiencing significant pressures and remains at its highest level of internal escalation'.
But steps taken to mitigate those pressures appear to be having a positive effect.
Aaron Cummins, the Trust's Chief Executive said: "We have now put into place all of the actions being in a critical incident allow so it is the right time to officially step it down."
He added: "Whilst stepping down the incident is positive news and a real testament to colleagues across our services, teams will continue to work together to focus on the actions we have put into place to ensure we can provide safe services for patients and the best possible work environment for colleagues."
Mr Cummins said the actions taken by staff at the trust to try to relieve the pressures are starting to make 'a small but important impact'.
This included opening a specialist Covid ward at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary with capacity for 15 patients - allowing space elsewhere in the hospital for patients with other conditions.
Staff at the trust, and their families, were given better access to PCR tests to allow them to get their results quickly.
While the sickness rate remains at 12 per cent, that level hasn't increased as had been feared at the start of the year.
A critical incident allows hospitals to suspend non-urgent operations and divert resources to tackle a crisis.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals said there was no longer an internal critical incident in place there but added it "continues to closely manage all operations across all sites".
A suspension of non-urgent surgery and appointments at 17 hospitals in Greater Manchester was imposed last week. Since then the number of hospital patients with Covid-19 has since "stabilised" and staff absence levels have dropped.