No covid deaths at Harrogate hospital for two weeks

Harrogate District Hospital has now gone more than two weeks without a covid death.

The last death at the hospital from a patient who tested positive for the virus was recorded on April 11, according to NHS England figures.

It means the death toll at the hospital since last March remains at 179.

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Meanwhile, a further six covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.

The latest figures from Public Health England show the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic has increased to 7,660.

The district’s seven-day average rate of infection had not been updated today at the time of publication.

Yesterday’s rate was 14 cases per 100,000 people. Selby had the highest rate in England, at 112.

Knaresborough couple campaign for ‘Matilda’s Law’ after death of baby daughter

A Knaresborough couple are campaigning for changes to maternity services after ‘avoidable delays’ in delivery led to their baby daughter’s death.

Whitney Pickup went into labour at Harrogate District Hospital on July 2, 2018.

She was advised by doctors to proceed with a natural delivery even though her first child was delivered via emergency caesarean section at another hospital.

Following an unsuccessful forceps delivery, her daughter Matilda was born by caesarean section with severe brain damage.

Matilda was admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary before being transferred to Martin House Hospice, where she died at nine days old.

Ms Pickup, 33, and husband Andy, 35, subsequently instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the care provided by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

An investigation, carried out by the trust, found “there were avoidable delays in achieving the delivery of Matilda which caused or materially contributed to her sad death”.

Among the problems identified by a subsequent Root Cause Analysis Report was a failure to obtain previous maternity and delivery notes, which would have alerted doctors to the risks involved as well as avoidable delays in the operating theatre and communication issues.

Matilda Pickup in hospital

The couple are now campaigning for Matilda’s Law to make it mandatory for hospital trusts to share antenatal, maternity and labour records if the mother is under the care of a different trust in future pregnancies.

Ms Pickup, who is also mother to Charlie, five, and Isaac, one, believes her daughter’s death could have been avoided if the hospital had requested her medical records. She said:

“It’s still so difficult for me and Andy to accept that Matilda is no longer here and she didn’t get to experience any sort of life.

“What makes it worse and all the more upsetting is knowing our daughter’s death could have been avoided had the hospital simply requested my medical records, making them aware of the risks.

“We will never forget Matilda and she will always be part of our family.  We now want to honour her memory by it being law for trusts to share relevant information to improve patient care and ensure staff are aware of any potential complications.

“If we can prevent this happening to anyone else than at least we can take something from what we’ve had to go through.”

An inquest into Matilda’s death, which is expected to last for four days, started in Harrogate yesterday.

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Victoria Moss, the specialist medical negligence lawyer representing the couple, said:

“Through our work, we sadly come across too many families left to pick up the pieces following the death of a baby following avoidable failings.

“We would urge trusts to always work in partnership, not only by sharing patient records so the best possible care plans can be put in place, but also by sharing best practice. This we believe would reduce the number of mother and babies either seriously injured or killed.

A spokesman for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it would comment after the inquest.

Harrogate hospital covid patient finally feels the sun

This is the moment when a coronavirus patient at Harrogate District Hospital was finally able to enjoy the sun after nearly four months in intensive care.

After much planning and collaboration, the intensive care unit team took the patient to the hospital’s friends’ garden.

The patient, who asked to remain anonymous, was admitted with coronavirus early in January.

Although she still needed the aid of oxygen tanks for last week’s first trip outside, the fresh air boosted her recovery.

Dr Sarah Marsh, who is a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care, said:

“Thankfully they are now at a stage where we are able to safely take them out of the intensive care environment.

“The patient very much enjoyed the visit to the garden to feel the sun on their face, hear the birds, smell the flowers and to look at the sky.

“It also really gave the patient a huge boost and new determination to strive for home.

“She still has a long road ahead in terms of recovery and rehabilitation, but acts like this make such a positive difference in terms of outlook.”

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The NHS has well-established rehabilitation methods but coronavirus has forced doctors and nurses to rethink their methods.

Harrogate District Hospital has said starting rehabilitation early and trips out to the garden are both part of its arsenal for treating coronavirus.

Vera Davison, physiotherapy team leader, said:

“Being able to take this lady outside has been wonderful. It is helping to motivate her and her family too; they can see progress being made.

“Rehabilitation is hard work and slow progress, so any positive steps towards normality are welcomed.

“It’s really heartening to see people getting better while in hospital and also after they’ve gone home. This really helps us to appreciate that our efforts are really worth it.”

Just one covid case confirmed in Harrogate district

Just one covid case has been confirmed in the Harrogate district in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,644.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has dropped to 19 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average stands at 28 and the England rate is 24.

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No further deaths from patients who tested positive for coronavirus have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

It means the death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic remains at 179.

The more recent covid-linked death at the hospital was reported on April 11, according to NHS England figures.

Harrogate hospital goes a week without a covid death

Harrogate District Hospital has gone a week without reporting a death from a patient who tested positive for covid.

According to NHS England figures up to April 18, the last death recorded at the hospital was on April 11.

The death toll at the hospital since last March remains at 179.

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Meanwhile, a further eight covid cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district according to Public Health England statistics.

It takes the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,638.

Elsewhere, the district’s seven-day covid rate has increased to 26 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 26 and the England rate is 24.

Harrogate hospital staff walk, run and bike to New Zealand for charity

Staff at Harrogate District Hospital have raised money for charity by walking, running and cycling the distance from Harrogate to Wellington in New Zealand.

They started the challenge in February and walked 22,866 kilometres by Easter, raising £1,600 in the process. That is £400 more than the original target.

45 staff from the pharmacy department took part. They all tracked how far they had ran, walked and cycled each week and added up the total.

The money will go to Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity. It supports staff, services and patients at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

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Elizabeth Gill, pharmacy support worker and organiser, said:

“At a time when we are all stretched thin and covid has meant we can’t get together outside of work, we wanted to come together to challenge ourselves while raising money for our hospital charity.

“We decided to do the ultimate challenge and get to Wellington in New Zealand as this is the furthest capital from Harrogate and also a country which is covid-free!

“I’m so proud of everyone and how hard we’ve all worked. Our fundraising total is over £1600 which is incredible!”

Yvonne Campbell, head of charity and business development project manager, said:

“Everyone at Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity is blown away by the amount raised by our pharmacy team and the effort they’ve put in to supporting us.

“Recently, money raised by our supporters funded some portable DVD players for inpatients to use to watch films on while they’re in hospital, so the money they raise will go a long way to supporting services, patients and fellow colleagues at the trust.”

Harrogate hospital to recycle face masks using new machine

Harrogate District Hospital has ordered a machine that turns single use plastics, including face masks, into reusable material.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is one of eight health trusts pioneering the new technology.

Covid has forced hospital staff to use far more personal protective equipment (PPE).

But some face masks are thrown away after just a few hours.

Research from a waste company suggested the UK throws away 53 million masks every day and just 10% are recycled.

Official government guidance urges people to dispose of face masks as waste rather than recycling.

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But with so many masks going to landfill and incinerators, hospitals have turned to Cardiff company TCG Solutions’ new machine.

Called a Sterimelt, it melts down polypropylene, which is a material used in the manufacture of face masks, into solid blocks of plastic that can be repurposed and used as items such as bins.

Philip Davison-Sebry, founder and managing director of the company, said:

“What was once going out to landfill, can now be turned into new material.”

The machine, which costs £55,000, turns polypropylene into reusable plastic blocks, which can be used to make bins, chairs and other items.

Although the machine is not up and running yet in Harrogate, the trust hopes to start recycling as soon as possible.

Visiting resumes at Harrogate District Hospital

Harrogate District Hospital has today resumed visits for inpatients as part of the latest easing of lockdown restrictions.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust announced today all inpatients were allowed one visitor for 30 minutes each day.

Visits are allowed between 2-4pm for up to 30 minutes. Appointments must be booked in advance with wards.

Also from today, partners are allowed to attend all pregnancy scans.

But no visitors are allowed in the emergency department unless they are accompanying a child.

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Patients who are classed as end of life, or have dementia or a learning disability, or have been in hospital for a long time will continue to have open and flexible visiting as before.

During the booking process visitors will be asked questions about covid symptoms, travel and requests to isolate. Visitors will also have to wear PPE whilst in the hospital.

To read the guidance in full, click here.

First covid death at Harrogate hospital in nearly two weeks

Harrogate District Hospital has reported its first covid death in nearly two weeks.

The death was reported on April 11, according to NHS England figures.

It’s the first death since March 29 of a patient who tested positive for covid.

It takes the total deaths at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 179.

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Meanwhile, 11 covid cases have been recorded in the Harrogate district according to latest Public Health England statistics.

The number takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,596.

According to the government dashboard, the only areas to have had any infections in the last seven days are Killinghall and Hampsthwaite, Harrogate east and Hookstone.

Harrogate hospital goes 10 days without a covid death

Harrogate District Hospital has gone 10 days without reporting a death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus.

The last time it recorded a death was March 29, according to NHS England data.

Currently, the number of covid-positive patients who have died at the hospital since last March stands at 178.

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Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 14 cases per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 25 and the England rate is 29.

Due to a change in the way Public Health England reports cases of covid, the daily cases for April 9 has been left out.

A post on the Public Health England website said of the change:

“Newly reported cases at regional and local authority level within England are calculated as the daily change in the total number of cases.

“This means that for 9 April 2021, these show significantly lower numbers or zero, and should not be considered as the actual number of new cases reported on that date.”