BREAKING POINT
One in five hospitals have no spare ICU beds as operations are cancelled to make way for Covid patients
ONE in five hospitals have no spare ICU beds as operations have been cancelled to make way for Covid-19 patients, it has been reported.
Hospitals nationally are treating more Covid-19 patients than they were in spring and NHS bosses have warned it could stay that way until at least February.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
3
3
NHS England figures from Thursday have revealed that about one in five major hosptial trusts in Enlgand had no spare critical care beds on January 10.
About 27 out of 140 acute trusts reported 100 per cent occupancy of all "open" beds, according to the latest available statistics.
It comes as University Hospitals Birmingham Trust announced all kidney transplants had been paused and waiting lists suspended for two weeks due to Covid-19.
The Trust has had to move 500 staff - including 200 doctors - to man ICU wards amid the winter wave of coronavirus admissions.
The transplant team tweeted: "Due to the critical situation with COVID-19 in our area, we are temporarily suspending our waiting list patients for 14 days and pausing kidney transplantation in Birmingham.
"We will keep this under regular review and update when we have more information."
NHS England data published on Thursday shows 4.46million people were waiting for routine operationss like joint replacements or cataract surgery in England by December.
Hospitals across England are also being told to open hundreds more ICU beds so they can take non-Covid patients from hotspots, ,has reported.
In a letter seen by the journal, NHS England bosses have ordered dozens of trusts to open the emergency capacity by Friday to try and take the pressure off the worst-hit hospitals.
It reporteldy says transfers from the East and London will go to the largest Midlands trusts, who may go to smaller trusts.
Most read in News
Boris Johnson has warned there is a “substantial risk” that the NHS will run out of intensive care beds as hospitals struggle to cope with a surge in Covid cases.
It comes as the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said deaths won’t drop “for weeks” after the country reported a record 1,564 fatalities on Wednesday.
The total number of people who have lost their lives to the disease in UK now stands at 86,015 after 1,248 deaths were reported on Thursday.
3
NHS running out of ICU beds as children's wards filling up with adults and deaths 'won't drop for weeks'