NHS coping with new Covid-19 admissions well, says hospitals boss
There is confidence from those who run the NHS that vaccines are working against Covid-19 variants.
Hospitals in Covid-19 hotspots are seeing a “significantly” lower death rate among people admitted for treatment and are coping with current levels of infection, the head of NHS Providers has said.
Chris Hopson, who runs the body which represents NHS trusts, said there was a degree of confidence that vaccines appear to have “broken” the link between infections and the “very high level of hospitalisations and mortality we’ve seen in previous waves”.
He told Times Radio: “And if, and it is a big if, if Bolton has gone through its complete cycle and if other areas follow Bolton, the view from the hospital there was that they were able to cope with the level of infections.
“It’s important not to just focus on the raw numbers here… you also do need to look at who’s being admitted into hospital and how clinically vulnerable and what level of acuity they’ve got.
The demographics of those admitted to hospitals has also changed since vaccines became widely available, Hopson said.
“What chief executives are consistently telling us is that it is a much younger population that is coming in, they are less clinically vulnerable, they are less in need of critical care and therefore they’re seeing what they believe is a significantly lower mortality rate which is, you know, borne out by the figures.
“So it’s not just the numbers of people who are coming in, it’s actually the level of harm and clinical risk.”
The Government will next week decide if lockdown restrictions can ease further and one key piece of data will be on whether the vaccine rollout had reduced the risk of the NHS being overwhelmed if cases rise.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said coronavirus cases are “clearly rising” and that Boris Johnson is reviewing a range of data before making a final decision on lifting restrictions on June 21.
He told Sky News: “We created this five-week period between the stages of the road map and that has actually proved invaluable on this occasion, because it’s a finely balanced decision.
“We need to see that data of cases, which are clearly rising, but the link to hospitalisations and ultimately to death.
“So the Prime Minister is reviewing that ahead of the decision point, which is going to be June 14 – at that point of course he will let everybody know what the ultimate decision is.”
He said there were no plans to return to last year’s regional tiered approach to coronavirus restrictions
An increased package of support is being provided to Greater Manchester and Lancashire, similar to that seen in Bolton, where case numbers of the Delta variant first identified in India have been relatively high.
Guidance was also changed recently to encourage those in Covid-19 variant hotspots such as Greater Manchester to stay local.