Covid: Leicester hospitals boss says staff are struggling

The trust said about one in six staff members were currently off sick

A "significant and sustained" increase in Covid patients is putting pressure on hospitals in Leicester, health bosses have said.

Richard Mitchell, chief executive of University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust, said the number of patients in hospital with the virus rose over Christmas.

He said staff were "struggling with the pressure" of the pandemic.

About one in six are currently not in work due to Covid or other illnesses.

'Incredibly difficult'

The combination of a rise in admissions and staff shortages have seen NHS trusts across England declare critical incidents, meaning bosses are concerned key services such as cancer care may not be carried out.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also warned the NHS was facing "huge pressures" in dealing with the pandemic.

Across UHL's three hospitals - Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital - have more than 250 Covid patients, more than double the figure at the start of December.

Mr Mitchell said the most ill Covid patients "are unvaccinated and in critical care", a number which "rapidly increased" just before Christmas.

He said staff absences were running at about 16%, with numbers "very stretched" and January set to be "an incredibly difficult month".

"We do have good levels of community vaccination, but my message to everybody is that vaccination remains the safest and most effective way to protect yourself from the effects of Covid," he said.

"Our clinical and non-clinical colleagues are struggling with the pressure of dealing with Covid in their working and their personal lives for the best part of two years.

"It is those who are unvaccinated who are the most unwell, and unfortunately a proportion of those won't be making it home."

Mr Mitchell said the trust had not declared a critical incident but it was "something we continue to monitor on a day-to-day basis", adding senior staff were working with police, social care services and other agencies to discuss the situation.

"We will do our best to not get to that point," he said.