Coronavirus: Barts Health NHS Trust 'deferring some routine procedures'

A major London health trust has said it is deferring some routine procedures as it treats high numbers of Covid-19 patients.

Barts Health NHS Trust, which serves around 2.5 million people in east London, said it has moved to the “high pressure” phase of its winter escalation plan.

A Barts Health spokesman said: “We are treating high numbers of patients with Covid-19, and in line with our winter escalation plan we have moved into a ‘high pressure’ phase and are taking steps to keep our patients safe.

“These include deferring some routine procedures over the coming days so we can redeploy staff and increase the number of critical care and general beds available.”

The trust, which operates across four major hospital sites The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Whipps Cross and Newham, said the plan will not affect cancer patients and that people will be contacted directly if their elective procedures need to be postponed.

Tougher coronavirus restrictions for large areas of the South East