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:
Harrogate district covid cases stays in single figures“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.”
The Harrogate district has recorded just two coronavirus cases in today’s daily figures, according to Public Health England.
It means that the seven day rate in the district remains low at just 15 per 100,000 compared to the England average of 44 per 100,000.
North Yorkshire as a whole has a slightly lower seven day rate than the rest of the country at 36 per 100,000.
So far 7,590 people have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic in the district.
Harrogate District Hospital has not recorded any further coronavirus deaths today.
The hospital recorded a death for the first time in 13 days on March 30. Currently the hospital’s death toll is at 178.
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First covid death at Harrogate hospital in 13 days
Harrogate District Hospital has reported its first covid death in 13 days.
According to NHS England figures, the hospital reported the death of a patient who tested positive for coronavirus yesterday.
It is the first reported at the hospital since March 16.
The number takes the hospital covid death toll to 178.
Meanwhile, just two covid cases have been recorded in the Harrogate district today.
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According to latest Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of infection since last March to 7,578.
The district’s seven-day covid rate of infection stands at 34 cases per 100,000 people.
Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average is 44 and the England rate is 54.
10 days without covid death at Harrogate hospitalHarrogate District Hospital has recorded its longest period without a covid-related death since Christmas.
Latest figures revealed by NHS England today show 10 days have passed since the last death.
It is the longest period without a covid fatality since the 14 days from December 11 to December 25.
Infection rates soared after Christmas, as did admissions, peaking at 68 on February 13.
At one point last month there were seven deaths in three days.
The dark days continued this month, when 10 people died in nine days.
But patient numbers have fallen rapidly recently and are now down to single figures.
A total of 814 covid patients have been admitted to the hospital since the pandemic began.
Six hundred and three have been discharged.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust announced today it had introduced free WiFi at its hospitals in Harrogate and Ripon.
We've introduced a new, free WiFi network for patients & visitors at Harrogate District & Ripon Community hospitals.
To use the service, please connect to the NHS_PUBLIC_Wi-Fi network, enter your name & email details & agree to the T&Cs. You'll then be granted access. pic.twitter.com/SH0HfTlyE4
— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) March 27, 2021
No daily infection figures for the Harrogate district had been released by Public Health England by the time of publication today.
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No covid deaths at Harrogate hospital for a week
No deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been recorded at Harrogate District Hospital for over a week.
According to NHS England figures, the last death was reported on March 16 – eight days ago.
The death toll at the hospital remains at 177.
Yesterday, health bosses revealed that the number of patients being treated at the hospital had fallen to six.
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It comes as seven more covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district, according to latest Public Health England data.
It takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,549.
Harrogate district pauses for National Day of ReflectionPeople and organisations across the Harrogate district paused at noon today for the National Day of Reflection.
The day, organised by end of life charity Marie Curie, gave people in the UK the chance to remember the 126,000 covid-related deaths, which include more than 1,100 in North Yorkshire.
Staff at Harrogate District Hospital and Ripon Community Hospital were offered the opportunity to observe a minute’s silence.
Staff at Harrogate District Hospital.
Hospital staff working from home were able to take part online in an event led by chaplains.
The Harrogate Bus Company, owned by Transdev, remembered staff lost during the pandemic, when buses have continued to operate despite risks.
Today at 12noon we’re joining in the 1 minute silence for the #DayOfReflection to support @mariecurieuk.
Your driver will pull over if it is safe – please join us if you are on board.
We're remembering colleagues in the Transdev family who we sadly lost over the past year ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ptvzTxt7cy
— The Harrogate Bus Company (@harrogatebus) March 23, 2021
At a press briefing today Nick Moxon, a resident at Disability Action Yorkshire‘s home on Claro Road in Harrogate and chair of a care home visiting task group set up by North Yorkshire County Council last year, paid tribute to care workers’ efforts during the pandemic.
Speaking at North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, which leads the county’s response to covid, he said:
“Staff members don’t ask to work throughout the pandemic, they have to come to work and they have managed to just adapt to the situation.
“Thank you to care staff and North Yorkshire County Council for the care and support over the past year.”
Number of covid patients at Harrogate hospital falls to six
The number of covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital has fallen to single figures.
Amanda Bloor, chief accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, told a press briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum today just six patients were now being treated at the hospital.
The number was stubbornly high in January and February, peaking at 68 on February 13.
But it has fallen sharply in recent weeks and has now more than halved from 13 last week.
The decline has enabled the hospital to re-open wards that had been allocated to covid patients.
Sixty-nine covid patients are being treated in hospitals serving North Yorkshire, which also includes York, South Tees and Scarborough.
Ms Bloor said:
“We continue to see that downward trend in the numbers. But we do need to continue to follow the national guidance.”
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The drop in numbers comes as covid vaccinations continue to be carried out in the district.
A letter from NHS England to hospital bosses across the country warned of a shortage of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine from next month.
However, Ms Bloor said health officials have been assured by government there will be enough supply to vaccinate all adults over-50 by April 15.
According to latest NHS England figures, 70,138 first doses have been administered in the Harrogate district so far.
Those over-50 and people with underlying health conditions are currently being invited to book a vaccine appointment.
A year of ‘outstanding care’ under immense pressure at Harrogate hospitalToday’s National Day of Reflection marks a year since the start of the first lockdown. Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, writes for the Stray Ferret about how the trust has responded.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of our first national lockdown. This past year has been such a challenge for everyone – not just in the NHS but across our all of our communities. It’s impacted on absolutely everyone in a way that so many of us have never before experienced.
Last week, we also marked the one-year anniversary of our first confirmed inpatient with coronavirus. It’s important we reflect on what our teams have pulled together to deliver since the pandemic began a year ago.
A year on, we have treated just over 800 patients who have suffered with covid. Of those, 600 people have been supported through kind and compassionate care and have been discharged home, but sadly 183 patients lost their lives in the pandemic at our hospitals.
Our community discharge team has supported over 4,500 discharges home during this time, providing the equivalent of 7,000 bed days in patients’ own homes.
Our district nursing services adapted and continued to provide outstanding care to patients in their own homes. They have carried out over 113,000 face-to-face contacts and our specialist care teams have added a further 5,000.
Our 0-19 services (health visiting and school nursing) also had to adapt their ways of working but have continued to support 102,000 children and pregnant mothers during this time. They adjusted the type of support they offer as well as trying to safeguard against increasing levels of risk, which lockdown tragically caused.
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I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of my colleagues across the trust and our partner organisations for their incredible efforts over the past year.
It now feels like an opportunity to look forward. Spring is officially here, the weather is getting warmer, more and more people are having the vaccine and we are easing out of lockdown. We can be really optimistic about getting back to something that more resembles ‘normal’.
That said, we can’t become complacent and we have to bear in mind that covid isn’t just going to disappear.
We will be living in a world where it exists but will be much more manageable. We already know so much more about it than we did at this point last year.
Please, keep following social distancing guidelines, wear a mask, wash your hands. If we’re all still doing this, it’s the quickest route back to doing the lovely things that we really want to do in life.
Harrogate hospital’s intensive care unit completes £1m refurbishmentHarrogate District Hospital’s intensive care unit has completed a £1 million refurbishment.
The 12-week refurbishment has increased capacity, meaning the unit can now care for 11 patients rather than 10, and created a better environment.
Ross Stewart, a patient on the unit for many weeks in 2020 pre-covid, returned today to cut a ribbon before patients were transferred back in.
The unit was stripped down to its shell and rebuilt. Five of the 11 beds now have their own side rooms.
The hospital’s experience of the pandemic shaped the new design. For instance, the side rooms help to contain infections.
The unit has new TVs, flooring, ceilings and doors. Wall cladding and dimmable lights have been installed, and there are wall murals and LED ceiling panels featuring blue skies, clouds and trees in two of the side rooms.
The more open design means nurses can see all the patients from their station.
Daylight, open space and a clean feel are key features of the new design.
The last 12 months have been unprecedented for hospital staff. ICU staff have been caring for numbers never seen before.
Intensive care consultant Dr Sarah Marsh said:
“This has gone above and beyond what we could have expected. It’s not just about surviving it’s about giving that survivorship some quality and the environment in the ICU plays a huge part in that.
“Something as simple as having more natural light and dimmable lights is very important for the patients. The unit will really help to improve patients’ outcomes for sure.”
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The increase in patients due to covid forced the unit to relocate into a larger ward, which presented the opportunity to refurbish the unit without disturbing patients.
The Harrogate Hospital and Community Charity donated some of the funds for the work, which enabled a relatives’ room to offer a pull-down bed for relatives to stay in.
17,000 fewer scans at Harrogate Hospital due to covidHarrogate District Hospital Trust provided over 17,000 fewer scans in the six months after the pandemic began than the six months prior.
The Stray Ferret has found data on the NHS England website to show that 39,348 scans took place between October 2019 and March 2020.
During the six months after coronavirus took hold, April 2020 and September 2020, there were 22,157 scans delivered at the hospital.
That is 17,191 fewer scans.
These numbers include scans delivered at the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate after a referral from the trust. The exact number has not been disclosed.
Coronavirus has had a huge impact on the NHS, with staff working longer hours under difficult conditions.
The district hospital has seen an impact in the number of scans it delivered. Coronavirus meant many appointments were delayed and some patients were left feeling reluctant to go into hospital with health issues.
The hospital said its staff are working hard to re-book appointments.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said:
“We are working hard to reschedule appointments and operations impacted by the pandemic for as soon as possible. However, the pandemic means that for many of our patients there will be a delay, and waiting times will be longer.
“We have arrangements in place to risk assess every patient on our waiting lists to ensure we prioritise people on the basis of their clinical need. These decisions are being made by doctors and other clinical colleagues who are following national clinical guidelines.
“Colleagues both in hospital and in community services have been absolutely fantastic throughout the pandemic and despite the ongoing challenges, continue to be.”
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The data included 12 scans covering all areas of the body including CT, MRI and Cystoscopy scans. Some of those included in the data are used in cancer diagnosis.
Seven of the 12 scans included in this data can be used for cancer amongst other conditions.
Huge drops in cancer referrals have been reported throughout the pandemic. Cancer Research UK found that 40,000 fewer people started cancer treatment last year.
Dr Stuart Griffiths, Director of Research and Services at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said:
“We know that there has been a reduction in urgent referrals for suspected cancer during the pandemic which is slowly getting back to normal. Early diagnosis of cancer is vitally important. It is easier to treat when caught early.
“We encourage anyone with any worrying symptoms to approach their GP.”