Covid: Liverpool NHS trust cancels ops and moves to 'surge phase'

The hospital trust has moved to the "surge phrase" to ensure capacity for additional Covid patients

Elective operations are being cancelled across a hospital trust due to a rise in patients needing Covid-19 treatment.

In a letter to staff, the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it had moved to the "surge phase".

Some operating theatres will close as staff are moved to Covid wards.

Those needing critical care at the trust's Aintree University and Royal Liverpool University Hospitals tripled in the last two weeks.

Dr Paul Fitzsimmons, the trust's deputy executive medical director, said the situation was "getting worse and we are seeing more patients".

"It is still within the volumes we can manage, although we are starting to feel the pressure," he added.

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The hospital trust is currently treating about 85 Covid patients, with 20 in critical care, but the situation was "very different" to the issues seen in previous waves and the trust was "seeing younger patients coming into critical care".

He said the majority of those being treated "have had no vaccine" and the public could "really help us [by] getting vaccinated as soon as possible."

"It's really important that people carry on using their masks, carry on with the personal responsibility of social distancing if you can and most of all get double jabbed," he added.

"That's how you can help our staff and make their lives easier."

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