Covid: Leicester doctors working as nurses to help patients

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust oversees care at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital and Leicester General Hospital

More than 50 doctors are working as intensive care nurses to help coronavirus patients in Leicester, a health boss has said.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust's medical director Andrew Furlong said the medics are also supporting staff working in intensive care.

He added they are currently operating at 155% of its normal capacity.

An intensive care consultant said the pressure on staff and the hospitals was the "worst I've ever seen it".

During the pandemic, other wards have closed and some elective operations paused, allowing consultants from other departments to assist nurses, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The move - confirmed at a vaccine Q&A on Thursday - comes after care for seriously ill children was transferred from a Leicester hospital so their beds could be used for Covid patients.

Mr Furlong said: "We have more than 50 of our consultants working on intensive care in a capacity - not as doctors but actually as nurses to support staff and patients on the intensive care unit."

'Staff are exhausted'

Speaking straight from an intensive care shift, Dr Jennifer Briggs said a colleague told her it is the worst he has seen it in 32 years.

"I've not been in intensive care as long as he has, but it's certainly the worst I've ever seen it," she said.

"Yes we see the death figures, but we don't see about those who end up with serious conditions afterwards... people don't just go back to normal.

"Staff are exhausted but doing everything they can. News of the vaccine lifted the mood, we were all very excited and looking forward to the opportunity to be able to have it."

During the pandemic, some wards have closed and some operations have been postponed in Leicester

More than 450 Covid positive patients are being looked after at the trust's three main hospital sites - Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital and Leicester General Hospital.

Mr Furlong said "just over one in three beds" contains a patient with coronavirus.

He added there were usually 49 intensive care beds, but 76 patients are currently being treated there, 62 of whom have Covid-19.

The trust added surgical wards are being used as medical wards and staff have been moved from other wards.