NHS will struggle to staff Nightingale hubs for Covid patients, warns doctor

There are plans to set up a temporary unit for Covid-19 patients at St James's University Hospital in Leeds and seven other sites across the UK, in preparation for an expected surge in admissions caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

But Brian McGregor, chair of the British Medical Association's Yorkshire branch, said clinical staff would need to be taken away from hospitals which are already stretched thin to run these units.

It comes as at least 10 trusts in England have declared critical incidents since Christmas, as they struggle to deal with rising levels of Covid-related absences.

Dr McGregor said: “There's been very little information as to how the Nightingale is going to be staffed.

“They are saying that the patients might be less critical patients who are almost ready for discharge, but you're still going to need some clinical care.

“The staff will need to come from somewhere and where are you going to take staff from when everywhere else is already stretched and trying to maintain their own services?”

He added: "We know that staff are being damaged by the fact that they can’t provide the care they want to provide because of the pressure they're under.

“All we’re seeing is increasing Covid cases but very little from the Government with regards to trying to restrict that rapid rise. It's almost as if the NHS has been thrown under a bus.”

Health secretary Sajid Javid said he hopes the temporary units will not need to be used but the Government must "prepare for all scenarios and increase capacity".

The NHS said the eight temporary Nightingale units would be for patients who need "minimal support" and they would be run by consultants, nurses and “clinical staff brought in with rapid training”.

It has also asked trusts to identify areas such as gyms and education centres that can be converted to accommodate patients, as it draws up plans to create up to 4,000 additional surge beds.

More than 17,000 people are now being treated in hospitals in England for Covid-19 but NHS trusts across the country are struggling with high levels of absence.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St James's University Hospital, has had staffing issues in recent weeks and it offered some workers double time to cancel annual leave at short notice and work over the festive period.

Figures released last week show 24,632 staff at NHS hospital trusts were ill with coronavirus or having to self-isolate on Boxing Day, up 31 per cent from 18,829 a week earlier.

Despite calls for additional restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the Government will stick to its current approach until January 26.

He told Parliament: “I know some (MPs) might therefore ask whether this means we can now do away with measures altogether, but I’m sorry to report that hospital admissions are rising rapidly, doubling around every nine days, with already more than 15,000 Covid patients in hospital in England alone.

“We’re experiencing the fastest growth in Covid cases we’ve ever known with over 218,000 cases reported yesterday although that included some delayed reporting and potentially of greatest concern, case rates are now rising rapidly among the older and more vulnerable including doubling every week among those over 60, with the obvious risk that this will continue to increase the pressures on our NHS.”