How Covid-19 is affecting Birmingham’s hospitals and staff levels

New data has revealed how Birmingham’s hospitals are coping as Covid-19 infections continue to rise across the country.

The Prime Minister has warned that 90% of patients in intensive care with Covid-19 in England have not had their booster vaccine.

Boris Johnson made an urgent plea for people to come forward for their jab, saying people need to think about the risk they are running with their health if they fail to do so.

And the stress on hospitals in Birmingham has been laid bare after NHS England released new figures on delayed ambulance handover times and staff absences.

Here’s what the figures show.

Hundreds of patients kept waiting in ambulances

At the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, 2245 patients arrived at hospital via ambulance during the week leading up to December 19, with 323 patients experiencing handover delays greater than 60 minutes, and 437 experiencing handover delays between 30 and 60 minutes.

This meant that 33.85% of handovers were delayed by over 30 minutes.

During the previous week, 44.41% of handovers were delayed by over 30 minutes.

At the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, 983 patients arrived at hospital via ambulance during the week leading up to December 19, with 77 patients experiencing handover delays greater than 60 minutes, and 114 experiencing handover delays between 30 and 60 minutes.

This meant that 19.43% of handovers were delayed by over 30 minutes, compared with 22.00% the week before.

And at the Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, 126 patients arrived at hospital via ambulance during the same week, with 4 patients experiencing handover delays greater than 60 minutes, and 16 experiencing handover delays between 30 and 60 minutes.

This meant that 15.87% of handovers were delayed by over 30 minutes, compared with 20.50% the previous week.

Critical care beds taken up by more than 95%

Critical care beds under the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust were occupied by 98.36% in the week leading up to December 19, up from 97.38% the week before, the seventh worst rate in the country.

In the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, critical care beds were occupied by 95.59%, down from 97.95% the previous week, the thirteenth worst rate in the country.

Staff absences due to Covid

The data also showed that University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust had an average of 313 staff off work due to Covid-19, either through sickness or self-isolation, in the week between 13 December and 19 December.

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust had a weekly average of 122 staff off work due to Covid-19 in the same week.

And Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust had a weekly average of 102 staff off work due to Covid-19 during that time.

BirminghamWorld has contacted the trusts for comment.

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