Covid cases in Harrogate district increase by 57

Fifty seven more people in the district have tested positive for covid-19 according to figures released by Public Health England today.

It brings the total number of people who’ve tested positive for the virus to 3,357 since the pandemic began,

There were no new deaths of patients who tested positive for coronavirus at Harrogate District Hospital. Yesterday the NHS released statistics of 2 more deaths at the hospital on November 11.

It takes the total number of covid deaths in the hospital to 93.

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Meanwhile, the district’s weekly rate stands at 294 per 100,000 people.

It is the second highest in the county behind Scarborough, which stands at 580.

North Yorkshire is still tracking above the national average. The county has a rate of 311 compared with the England average of 267.

Two further coronavirus deaths at Harrogate hospital

Two coronavirus deaths have been confirmed on the same day at Harrogate District Hospital, according to latest NHS England figures.

Both deaths were recorded on November 11. It takes the total number confirmed at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 93.

It comes as a further 53 coronavirus cases have been tested positive in the Harrogate district, according to today’s Public Health England data.

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The figure takes the total case number since March up to 3,300.

Meanwhile, the district’s weekly rate stands at 294 per 100,000 people.

It is the second highest in the county behind Scarborough, which stands at 580.

North Yorkshire is still tracking above the national average. The county has a rate of 311 compared with the England average of 267.

Third covid death at Harrogate hospital since second lockdown

Harrogate District Hospital has reported a third coronavirus deaths since the start of the second lockdown.

According to NHS England statistics today, the latest death was reported on November 9 and follows two deaths recorded on November 5.

They bring the total number of deaths at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 91.

The number of covid patients in the hospital has nearly doubled since last week.

Today, county council bosses warned that North Yorkshire faces further restrictions after lockdown if infections are not brought under control.

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Currently the county is above the national average for weekly case rates, with 280 cases per 100,000 people.

The England average is 245.

Scarborough’s rate is the highest of the seven North Yorkshire districts at 463, with Harrogate second on 294.

According to Public Health England figures, the Harrogate district recorded a further 64 positive cases in the last 24 hours.

It takes the total number since the start of the pandemic to 3,103.

Meanwhile, it was revealed at a press briefing today that the permanent testing site on Dragon Parade, in Harrogate is testing on average 200 people per day. The number is up on 150 last week.

Covid patients in Harrogate hospital nearly double in a week

The number of patients being treated for coronavirus in Harrogate District Hospital has nearly doubled in a week.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, revealed at a media briefing today 28 people were currently being treated in the hospital – an increase of 13 on last week.

Hospital admissions in North Yorkshire as a whole are increasing sharply and are now approaching the peak of the first wave of the epidemic.

Currently 252 patients are in hospitals run by the three main NHS trusts in North Yorkshire, compared with 302 at the height of the pandemic.

Areas of the county have seen a dramatic increase in cases, with Scarborough reporting a weekly rate of 464 per 100,000 people – more than double last week.

Harrogate district is the next highest on 294 and North Yorkshire as a whole is now above the national average of 245.

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Richard Webb, director of adult social care at North Yorkshire County Council, warned there was a risk the county could face tougher restrictions than pre-lockdown when the tier system resumes.

Mr Webb told the press briefing of the North Yorkshire Resilience Forum, a partnership of agencies which responds to emergencies, it was important for people to do “all they can” to tackle the virus in the next three weeks.

He said:

“In two weeks time, the government will receive the data on the impact of the lockdown and we will also be assessing our data.

“As North Yorkshire, we went into the lockdown as tier one and that was the lowest level of alert. 

“However, as we see the cases at the moment, we have a real concern that we will face tougher restrictions coming out of the lockdown than we faced going into the lockdown.

“That’s why it is really important that we do all we can together to tackle this virus.”

The England lockdown is due to finish on December 2. The government has said the country will then return to a tier system.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at the county council, welcomed the preliminary results of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer that has shown to be 90% effective in preliminary results.

Dr Sargeant said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the results but added there needed to be “long-term behavioural change” to overcome the virus.

Covid cases rise by seventy five in Harrogate district

Seventy five more people have tested positive for coronavirus according to figures published today by Public Health England. There have been no further deaths of covid at Harrogate district hospital.

The total number of cases since the pandemic began now stands at 2,910.

On Thursday, the district reported its record daily case increase with 96 positive tests confirmed.

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Health bosses said this week that 24 patients were being treated for coronavirus at Harrogate district hospital and that it is coping with the increased number of patients.

Meanwhile, care home visits will continue in North Yorkshire. The county council restricted visits during October but advised homes they could relax the rules in November to allow one designated visitor for each resident.

Officials have said the measure will continue through lockdown, but homes which report an outbreak will have to restrict visits.

Seventy new positive covid cases in Harrogate district

The latest figures from Public Health England show there have been 70 new positive covid cases in the past 24 hours.

It brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic in the district to 2, 835.  In Yorkshire and North East NHS figures published today showed 82 further deaths of people who had tested positive for coronavirus — none were in the Harrogate district.

On Thursday, the district reported its record daily case increase with 96 positive tests confirmed.

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Health bosses said this week that 24 patients were being treated for coronavirus at Harrogate district hospital and that it is coping with the increased number of patients.

Meanwhile, care home visits will continue in North Yorkshire. The county council restricted visits during October but advised homes they could relax the rules in November to allow one designated visitor for each resident.

Officials have said the measure will continue through lockdown, but homes which report an outbreak will have to restrict visits.

Forty-six further cases of coronavirus in Harrogate district

Latest Public Health England figures show a further 46 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the district in the last 24 hours.

It takes the total amount of cases since the start of the pandemic up to 2,765.

Yesterday, the district reported its record daily case increase with 96 positive tests confirmed.

The seven day case rate in the district has increased to 269 per 100,000 people and remains above the national average.

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Meanwhile, Harrogate District Hospital has reported another death from a patient who tested positive for coronavirus.

The death was reported on November 5 and takes the total amount of deaths up to 89, according to NHS England figures.

Health bosses said yesterday that 24 patients were being treated for coronavirus at the hospital.

Record daily number of covid infections in Harrogate district

Ninety-six people in the Harrogate district — the highest daily total since the pandemic began — tested positive for covid, according to the latest daily figures from Public Health England.

Harrogate west and Pannal has recorded the most new infections in the district in the last seven days, with 41.

Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley has recorded the fewest, with five.

It was also revealed today that Harrogate District Hospital is currently treating 24 coronavirus patients – an increase of eight on last week.

The figure was published today by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

The hospital ended routine patient visits today as the country entered a second lockdown.

The only exceptions are for visits to patients at end of life; instances where difficult conversations need to take place; patients with physical or cognitive impairment; long-stay patients.

It comes as Steve Russell, chief executive of the hospital trust, told the Stray Ferret that the hospital was coping well with the virus.

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The district entered a second national lockdown today, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was needed to protect the health service from increased demand.

The weekly case rate in the district is still above the national average, with 252 per 100,000 people.

Harrogate hospital ends routine visits to patients

Harrogate District Hospital has confirmed it will no longer allow patient visits, except in a few limited circumstances.

The restriction came into force today as part of lockdown measures.

The only exceptions are for visits to patients at end of life; instances where difficult conversations need to take place; patients with physical or cognitive impairment; long-stay patients.

A hospital statement said ‘all of these exceptions will be at the discretion of the shift lead’.

Visitors must wear masks and visors, which the ward will provide.

Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, told the Stray Ferret it had been a difficult decision that had been debated this week.

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The hospital has also limited the number of visitors to maternity wards to one.

Visiting slots between either 10am-12pm or 2pm-4pm will be allocated in the morning by the midwife in charge. Hospital guidance adds:

“If you are attending for an induction of labour your partner can attend with you.

“This is a decision we’ve taken reluctantly because we know how important visitors are and we know how much it means for partners to be present at key stages of pregnancy and birth.

“However, we have to play our part in reducing contacts and minimising potential spread of covid. We hope you understand why we’re doing this.”

Harrogate hospital coping well with covid, says chief executive

Preventing the NHS from being overwhelmed is one of the main reasons for today’s lockdown.

There have been some worrying stories about hospitals running out of beds in the coming weeks but Harrogate District Hospital is in a better position than most, according to the man in charge.

Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, told the Stray Ferret there was less pressure on critical care at the hospital than in the first wave and so far it was “managing reasonably well”.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Russell highlighted how relatively few covid patients the hospital has despite the Harrogate district’s soaring infection rate that is now above the England average. He said:

“Our wonderful staff in the hospital and community are doing a brilliant job. Other parts of the county have had more cases of us.

“We have had a lower increase in covid than areas around us and we are still running many routine services.”

Covid wards

Harrogate District Hospital has about 320 beds in total, and about 85 per cent are currently occupied.

There are two red wards — designated wards for confirmed or suspected coronavirus. The wards have about 60 staff. When one ward has more than 15 patients the second one is used. “We chose wards with the highest number of side rooms,” said Mr Russell.

He added that as part of the hospital’s surge plans, it would reduce other activities if the number of covid patients grew significantly and staff had to be redeployed. He said staff with the closest skill set for critical care, such as theatre staff, would be the first to be moved.

Mr Russell said the point at which this happened would be determined by a range of factors, including the overall pressure on critical care rather than a set number of covid patients and so far during the second wave the hospital had not reached it.

It currently has about 15 covid patients compared with 50 to 60 at the peak of the first wave. He said:

“The most important thing is how we are coping overall. And at the moment we are coping well.”

Critical care

The hospital’s base critical care capacity is seven. This can ‘flex’ to 10 and has the capacity for another six to eight patients.

Although there were far more covid patients at the peak of the first wave than there are currently, there were more beds available in spring because the hospital had cancelled most other activities. Mr Russell said:

“We didn’t know as much about the disease during the first wave. We now have new drugs, we manage patients better, we have non-invasive ventilators that allow patients to stay awake as well as mechanical ventilators. We have enough ventilators to cope.”

The hospital hasn’t redeployed any staff to treat covid patients during the second wave. Mr Russell said it ran training sessions to prepare staff for this during the first wave and it planned to run refresher sessions.

‘Right to lockdown’

Mr Russell described the decision as ‘a logical and understandable step’, adding:

“If we look at what’s happening across the NHS more broadly and the growth of pressure other hospitals are experiencing, I think it was a wise decision. The measures that we had in place didn’t seem to be slowing the pressure on hospitals as much as needed.”

Staff under pressure

The trust employs about 4,500 staff, of which about half are based in the hospital. Mr Russell said it had been one hell of a difficult year but he had never been prouder of being part of the NHS. He said:

“There is quite understandably a sense of anxiety. People are tired; they are anxious about what might come because winter is generally a busier time for the NHS. It doesn’t matter how well you prepare you can’t predict the future.”

He said the trust had put in place health and wellbeing support for staff. Currently absenteeism was only about 1.5 percentage points higher than usual, and six staff were off yesterday due to test and trace. Staff are only tested for covid when they display symptoms. Mr Russell said:

“Healthcare professionals are sociable animals. Lunchtime has always been a sociable affair. But staff now have to sit further apart, wearing face masks and goggles. It is’n’t nice. It’s uncomfortable. But they know it’s necessary.”

Visiting restrictions

The hospital is ending routine visits today. The only exceptions will be around vulnerable groups.  Mr Russell said this had been a difficult decision that had been debated this week, and the biggest dilemma was about allowing visits to terminally ill patients. He said:

“People find it distressing not being able to visit people at the end of life and so they will be one of the exceptions.”

Nightingale staff

Mr Russell is also chief executive of the Harrogate Nightingale hospital, which he describes as “an insurance policy we hope we never need”.

But if it is, Harrogate District Hospital may have to redeploy staff. Mr Russell said it had identified 10 or 11 staff of 12 or 13 that could be redeployed. Other hospitals in the region would have to do the same. He said this was part of the hospital’s escalation measures and could result in it having to pause routine work.

‘Difficult to switch off’

Many of us think we have stressful jobs but being in charge of a hospital during a pandemic is something else. “Switching off has been difficult,” Mr Russell admits. He had booked a family holiday to Africa next week. This changed to a trip to the New Forest when overseas travel became difficult. Now, with lockdown, he will be staying at home in Harrogate. He said:

“I get a lot of resilience from friends and family, and I’m lucky to have such a fabulous team around me.”