Two More Covid-19 Deaths at St George's Hospital
Number of new admissions for the disease not rising over last week
Paul Randall, Head of Nursing for Intensive Care. Picture: St George's Hospital
The number of coronavirus patients being treated at St George’s Hospital in Tooting remains steady, and the hospital is continuing to provide all of its key services despite the second lockdown.
In the latest update from the Trust (10 November), there were 17 coronavirus patients being cared for in intensive care and a further 30 coronavirus patients being cared for on the wards.
The week before (3 November) there were 12 Covid-19 positive patients being cared for in intensive care and a further 34 Covid-19 positive patients cared for on the wards.
Sadly, in the last week, two more patients have died from the virus.
This brings the total number of patients who have died at the hospital after testing positive for the virus since March to 309.
A statement on the Trust’s website reads, “Our thoughts are with the families of the patients affected – and, in all cases, we would ask that their privacy is respected at this time.”
Despite the latest lockdown restrictions, the hospital is continuing to provide all of its key services.
A spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that staff carried out as many planned operations (both inpatient and day surgery) last week as they did at the same time last year.
They added: “In other words, Covid-19 is not restricting our ability to provide safe, effective care for people undergoing routine operations. We are providing all key services, including outpatients – although we are carrying out as many appointments virtually as we can.
“We are stressing to patients that we have taken steps to keep people safe when visiting our hospitals and community services – and caring for Covid-19 patients is currently only a small (but important) part of the services we are providing. We have over 1,100 beds at St George’s and Queen Mary’s, which is helpful context given the relatively low number of Covid-19 patients being treated in our hospitals currently.”
Last week, in a video posted on the Trust’s Twitter page, Dr Dominic Spray, Consultant Intensivist, said that the number of Covid-positive patients in intensive care has been a “relatively steady number over the last week or so.”
He said the first lockdown showed that lockdown works in reducing admissions to hospital and to intensive care and urged people to follow the rules and new government guidance.
Paul Randall, head of nursing for intensive care, said the hospital has learnt from its previous experiences with coronavirus and said the treatment being given to patients is “getting better and better.”
He added: “We have a critical care plan for this winter. We are increasing our capacity based on the Covid demand that we’re expecting to see. We’ve planned for the worst-case scenario. We’re doing this by converting wards into critical care units.”
Sian Bayley - Local Democracy Reporter
November 13, 2020