Hospitals in Leicester on highest level of alert

Leicester's NHS hospitals serve a population of more than one million people

Hospitals in Leicester are in the highest state of alert in the NHS, called Opel 4, the BBC understands.

Staff are currently treating 295 people with coronavirus, up from 204 at the peak of the first wave.

To manage, bosses say they are freeing up additional beds in the area's community hospitals to care for patients with the virus.

The pressure on hospitals has been cited as a factor in the decision to keep the city and county in tier three.

Opel 4 means pressure on the local health and social care system continues to escalate, leaving organisations unable to deliver comprehensive care.

This alert level also means there is increased potential for patient care and safety to be compromised.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is responsible for three hospitals - the Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital.

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In June, the city and parts of the county became the first area in the UK to be made subject to a local lockdown and it currently sits in tier three.

Leicester had a seven-day infection rate of 246.7 per 100,000 people for the week to 13 December - higher than the England average of 218.8.

Leicester has never fully emerged from the first national lockdown in the spring

Confirming that the city and county would remain in tier three, the government wrote in this week's review of tier restrictions around England: "The number of daily Covid hospital admissions in the area [Leicester] continues to rise.

"The daily Covid hospital bed occupancy rate is above the national [average] and rising.

"The proportion of critical care beds or beds with mechanical ventilation occupied by Covid patients also remains high."

The Pfizer vaccine is currently being offered at Leicester General Hospital and 13 GP practices in the city and county, with a further 16 due to join the roll-out in the next few days.

Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby told BBC Radio Leicester: "The [coronavirus] figures are worryingly high, certainly here in Leicestershire, and it's putting enormous pressure on our hospitals.

"We cannot take any risks of further pressure."

A joint statement on behalf of NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups across Leicestershire and Rutland said staff "are working tirelessly to ensure we can safely continue to treat patients despite the significant and combined challenges of rising numbers of Covid-19 positive cases and annual winter pressures".