Harrogate hospital still treating record number of covid patients

Harrogate District Hospital is still treating a record amount of covid patients.

Figures from North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group today revealed that 65 people are in hospital with covid.

The number is among the highest since the start of the pandemic.

Last month the hospital urged people to follow lockdown rules and stay at home as its covid wards were “exceptionally busy”. But numbers have remained stubbornly high since.

It comes as a further 27 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate District, according to today’s Public Health England statistics.

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It takes the total number of cases since March to 7,086.

The district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 95 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 90, while the England rate stands at 132.

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite remains the area in the district with the most covid cases in the last seven days, with 19.

No further covid-related deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

‘We were told the vaccine was the way out’

A Harrogate man has spoken of his despair at being one of 1.7 million people told to shield again for another five weeks.

Scott Lambert, 35, has a rare autoimmune disease called behçets syndrome and is classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.

He received an email from the government yesterday advising him to extend shielding from February 21 to March 31.

Mr Lambert told the Stray Ferret he was vaccinated three weeks ago at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and, after spending much of last year shielding and all of this year, thought the end was in sight.

So to receive the news out of the blue yesterday was “beyond unfair”, he said, adding:

“We were told the vaccine was the way out of this. Yet a week before the review date we have been told it’s a further five weeks minimum.

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He said shielders were “the forgotten people in the pandemic” and he wanted to highlight their situation. He added:

“We have been locked away far more than many people over the coronavirus pandemic. It’s taking a huge strain on each and every one of us.

“Being a shielder isn’t lockdown. It’s next level lockdown. You’re constantly thinking of how transmission could occur and make you seriously ill. Yet an email is all the government felt was enough to put us through this for a further five weeks.

“We thought the vaccine was the way out. The government achieved the target of vaccinating all of the clinically extremely vulnerable and we thought we would be able to rejoin society in the new normal.”

Mr Lambert, who lives in Jennyfields, said the showground vaccination programme was well run. He added a Facebook group called Shielders Support had been extremely helpful to local shielders. But yesterday’s news came as a “shock to all”.

The email urged him to “stay at home as much as possible”, adding:

“Whilst the national lockdown has been effective and cases of covid are now falling, the levels of infection in the community remain high and the virus continues to pose a high risk to people across the country.

“The risk remains particularly high for those considered clinically extremely vulnerable. Therefore, the government strongly advises you to continue to follow the shielding measures that were introduced in January to help you protect yourself.”

Harrogate district records 17 coronavirus cases today

The Harrogate district recorded another 17 coronavirus cases today.

There were 51 infections on 1 February but the daily total has not exceeded 36 since then and has been consistently lower still in the last week.

It takes the total number of cases since March to 7,059, according to Public Health England statistics.

The seven-day covid rate for the district stands at 98 cases per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire average is 97 and the national rate is 137.

A further covid death has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital, according to today’s NHS England figures.

The death was recorded on Sunday. It takes the covid death toll at the hospital to 147.

Four covid deaths at Harrogate hospital

Four further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to NHS England figures today, two deaths occurred on Friday, one on Saturday and another yesterday.

It takes the covid death toll at the hospital to 146.

Meanwhile, Public Health England today confirmed a further 14 coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district.

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The total number of cases since March now stands at 7,042.

The seven-day infection rate in the district has fallen to 97 per 100,000 people.

North Yorkshire’s average now stands at 99, while the national rate is 141

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite is still the sub-district with the most cases, having recorded 25 in the last seven days.

Harrogate East and Starbeck have the second most with both areas reporting 15 cases.

Harrogate garages see increase in pothole repairs despite lockdown

Garages in Harrogate have said they are experiencing a rise in demand for pothole-related repairs despite the national coronavirus lockdown.

It comes as the government announced today £51 million in funding to repair roads in the Yorkshire and Humber region over the next year.

This is the second instalment of a national £2.5 billion “potholes fund”, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed in last year’s Budget.

However, it seems there are plenty of holes for North Yorkshire County Council to fill locally.

The council currently has 781 potholes on its reporting system for Harrogate, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge. Ripon and Masham have 175.

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While not all the reports require action from the council, those numbers can be a good indicator of the demand it is currently facing.

The recent cold weather has also caused more potholes. When water enters the road and freezes, it expands and creates holes in the surface. Traffic then exacerbates the problem.

Harrogate’s garages then deal with the consequences of damage caused by vehicles driving over potholes.

Finlay Bunce, the manager at Universal Tyres Harrogate, told the Stray Ferret that it recently repaired 10 cars on one day due to potholes:

“People should not be travelling as much but we are still seeing quite a few cars with pothole-related damage.

“One woman last week had only driven 160 miles in her brand new car when she drove over a pothole. She needed two new tyres.”

Sam Burton, manager of Just Tyres in Harrogate, said it had seen a 15% increase in pothole repairs since early January when the country went into lockdown. He said:

“We have had quite a few people complain about Otley Road in Harrogate. I drive down it regularly and it looks as if someone has lost control of a jackhammer. It all needs to be resurfaced.

“Some cars are so badly damaged as a result that we cannot even do a repair. Wagons and cars are driving all over the roads to avoid the holes.”

EXCLUSIVE: Great Yorkshire Showground can give 1,800 vaccines in a day

Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site can carry out up to 1,800 vaccinations a day.

The site, which opened its doors on December 22, is among four centres which are currently offering vaccines to people in the district.

In an interview with the Stray Ferret, Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough and clinical director of the Knaresborough and Rural District Primary Care Network, said he spent the weeks leading up to Christmas working on the blueprints for the centre.

He said the site had slowly cranked up its numbers, but added there was “a lot more work to do” to vaccinate everyone.

Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough who helped to draw up the site plans.

Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough, who helped to draw up the site plans.

Christmas planning

Discussions about the site started in late November after GPs were told they would need to set up vaccination centres.

Seventeen GP practices in the district and the Yorkshire Health Network, the federation of GPs, came together to look for a suitable venue to carry out vaccinations.

Officials scouted sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough including halls, swimming pools and supermarkets.

They settled on the showground because of its size and the need to keep batches of the Pfizer vaccine refrigerated on site.

Dr Preece and his colleagues spent weeks drawing up protocols, job descriptions and plans for how the site would look.

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While others were out Christmas shopping, the team were mapping out and drawing chalk lines on the floor of the hall to mark where dividers would be placed.

Dr Preece said:

“I slept like I’ve never slept before on Christmas Day, because it was my first day off for a month.

“It was a lot of work building it up to that. We were in here [the hall] in whatever the weather getting it all ready and sorted out.”

‘A small army of volunteers’

The site runs on hundreds of staff and volunteers who have given up their time to help with what has been described as the biggest vaccination programme in British history.

GP surgeries from all over the district send staff to the site every day on a rota system.

Some clinical staff have come out of retirement to help with the vaccine effort.

Staff at the Great Yorkshire Showground site helping with the vaccination effort.

Staff at the Great Yorkshire Showground site helping with the vaccination effort.

Alongside the doctors and nurses is a “small army of marshals” who help to signpost people into the car park and into the centre.

Dr Preece said the vaccination centre would not have been able to operate well without them.

He said:

“All the voluntary organisations have all come together to help marshal this which has been incredibly useful, I don’t quite know how we would done it without them.

“We are very grateful to them.”

Ramping up vaccinations

While the centre runs on the availability of vaccines, it can give up to 1,800 vaccinations a day at maximum capacity.

It’s taken time for the numbers to reach those levels, Dr Preece said, and is dependent on the supply they have.

He said:

“The maximum is about 1,800 now, so we’ve got really big numbers coming through when it’s going at full capacity.

“We are driven by how many vaccines we have got available to us at any one time.

“So, we can have 1,800 in here and 600 in a day at Ripon. We’ve got a good number coming through.”

Alongside the centre, clinical staff started to vaccinate care homes in January after batches of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine arrived. In one weekend, 50 homes were vaccinated.

A total of 175,000 first doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given in North Yorkshire and York so far.

A total of 175,000 first doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given in North Yorkshire and York so far.

Last week, surgeries also paid visits to those that are housebound.

As the site presses ahead with first doses, those requiring their second vaccine will begin to filter through gradually.

Dr Preece said he expects it will offer “more work in the short term” as they overlap with first doses.

“Again, it depends on vaccine supply how quickly we can do it.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, told journalists at a press briefing earlier this week that 175,000 first doses have been carried out in North Yorkshire and York so far.

While the numbers continue to increase, health bosses are still urging those over-70 who have not had the vaccine to come forward.

More work to do, but a sense of optimism

As the year goes on, the centre will continue to make its way down the age cohorts until everyone is offered the vaccine.

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Dr Preece said the operation is the biggest undertaking of his 18-year career and joked that it was like “putting on the Olympics after a village fete”.

However, he said he was still optimistic about the future but added there was still more work to be done.

He said:

“We have done those first four cohorts of people and we’ve managed to do that on time and on target, which is incredibly pleasing.

“It does give me some optimism and some hope for where we go next with this.

“There is still a lot of work to go, we’ve got all of those to do twice and all the other groups yet to come.

“So, we can’t sit back and relax yet unfortunately. But it is still looking optimistic at the moment.”

Harrogate district covid rate below 100 for first time since Christmas

The covid rate of infection in the Harrogate district has fallen below 100 people per 100,000 for the first time since before Christmas.

Public Health England confirmed another 22 cases today, reducing the seven-day average rate of infection to 98.

It has not been this low since December 21.

Rates shot up after Christmas, peaking at 498 on January 7.

The current overall average for North Yorkshire is 101 and the England figure is 148.

Killinghalll and Hampsthwaite is still the sub-district with the most cases, having recorded 22 in the last seven days.

Starbeck is second with 17.

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Two sub-districts — Harrogate West and Pannal and Dishthorpe, Baldersby and Markington — have not had any infections in the last seven days.

No further covid deaths at Harrogate District Hospital were reported today.

Tears of relief at Harrogate vaccination site

People have been left relieved, in tears and very emotional after receiving their first vaccinations at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Dr Chris Preece, one of the GPs that helped to set up the site, told the Stray Ferret that some were left “very emotional” in the early days of the site.

It comes after health bosses confirmed this week that 175,000 first doses of the vaccine have been carried out across North Yorkshire and York so far.

Vaccinations are expected to move onto those over 65-years-old from next week.

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For those groups who were among the first to get their vaccines, Dr Preece said it was an emotional experience.

He said that for some, the staff and the volunteers were the first people they had seen “in months”.

Dr Preece said:

“It’s been really positive and really nice, from our point of view.

“The first couple of weeks especially was very emotional for some people. We have had tears and things like that as people came into the site.

“For a lot of people who come here, particularly in the first couple of cohorts, it’s the first time they’ve left their house for months and months.

“It’s been really emotional for a lot of those people who are coming in.”

Dr Preece said that emotion has been reflected in those working and volunteering at the site too.

He added: 

“There’s a tangible feeling that we’re doing something important here.”

Anne from Harrogate was among the first to be vaccinated at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Anne from Harrogate was among the first to be vaccinated at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Among the first to get their vaccine at the showground was 83-year-old Anne, who thanked the health service and hoped it would make “her feel safe and will be the start of the end of isolation”.

Others marked their vaccines in line with special occasions.

Chris and Joan Jackson, aged 81 and 80, went to the showground a week after their 60th wedding anniversary.

At the time, Chris told the Stray Ferret:

“It was a very easy process and we were done in 45 minutes. It was managed quite well.

“It was no different to the flu jab.”

The showground is set to carry on offering first doses to the remaining cohorts, as well as the second doses to those that have had their first jab and completed the 12-week wait.

Health bosses have urged any of those over-70 who have not been offered the vaccine to contact the NHS to book an appointment.

Harrogate district records a further 23 coronavirus cases

A further 23 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.

It takes the total cases since March up to 6,983, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 111 per 100,000 people.

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The North Yorkshire average is 116, while the England rate is currently 166.

No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Watch out this coming week on the Stray Ferret for interviews from the Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site. 

Harrogate man claims he caught coronavirus in hospital

A Harrogate man who claims he caught coronavirus in hospital has called for greater protections for patients.

Tom Linden, who is 64, was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by ambulance a couple of weeks ago on January 27.

With chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure and diabetes, Mr Linden is in the at-risk group for coronavirus.

He feared going into hospital but when he developed fluid retention complications, a symptom of COPD, he had no choice.

On entering hospital he tested negative for coronavirus so was taken to the Byland Ward with five other COPD patients.

Mr Linden, who in normal times is in and out of hospital quite regularly, told the Stray Ferret:

“We were all tested for coronavirus on a daily basis. The staff came in on one night and told one of the six of us that they had coronavirus. As I was awake they told me as well.

“The same happened again another night. We raised our concerns about coronavirus safety in the ward and asked them to leave the door open and open the window but they dismissed us.

“On the third time they told me I had coronavirus. They moved me into the Nidderdale ward with the other coronavirus patients and I have a private room where I am calling you from now.

“Now I have to keep telling them to close the door behind them when they come into the room. I am absolutely terrified. I don’t think I am going to make it.”

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Harrogate District Hospital is under significant pressure at the moment. As of yesterday, it had 61 coronavirus. Down just three from an all time high of 64 patients last week.

A spokesperson for the hospital said:

“We have reviewed the comments made by Mr Linden and we are confident that the care provided has been what would be expected.

“Hospitals are safe places to be to receive care if needed.

“At Harrogate District Hospital, we follow strict infection prevention and control measures to protect both our colleagues and our patients, and these are adhered to at all times.

“Some of the measures include opening the windows where possible once every hour for 10 minutes.

“We have plastic curtains in between all beds (that are not two metres apart) which are wiped clean regularly.

“All colleagues involved in patient care are asked to self-test for covid-19 twice a week and report in the results.

“This helps to keep people safe and prevent asymptomatic spread of covid-19.

“Should anyone’s subsequent tests come back positive, then we have plans in place to provide appropriate care.”

The hospital’s press office also added that staff are well versed in PPE and that patients get PPE when they arrive.