Health boss reveals more than 450 NHS staff in North Yorkshire are off work because of Covid

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for North Yorkshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, told a briefing that the staff shortages are having a "significant impact" on hospitals already under pressure from a surge in virus patients.

The absences come as the region's main hospitals in Harrogate, Scarborough, York and South Tees are treating almost as many coronavirus patients as the first wave after a 33% jump in admissions in the last week.

On Tuesday, 252 patients were receiving emergency treatment, compared with 302 in spring.

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Mrs Bloor told a briefing of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum: "We are seeing an increase in staff absences - there are 450 staff across the main North Yorkshire hospitals absent either with Covid or in self-isolation.

"Marrying that with the seasonal illnesses and absences that we would normally expect, it is having a significant impact on staffing levels.

"All of our trusts have got surge plans that allow them to respond to normal winter pressures but particularly where we are now with the increase in numbers of patients presenting with Covid symptoms.

"We have mutual aid agreements in place between hospitals so that they can support each and we can take a regional view.

"If the numbers do rise significantly that will mean that hospitals can not protect planned care capacity which they are working really hard to do."

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Harrogate Hospital currently has 28 coronavirus patients - an increase of 13 from last week.

York has 56 patients after 15 were admitted in the last seven days, while Scarborough has 49 - an increase of 17 during the same period.

South Tees - which is located in Middlesbrough but serves North Yorkshire residents - has the highest figure of 119 - an increase of 15.

It comes as NHS staff are reportedly to get twice-weekly home coronavirus tests as early as next week.

Professor Stephen Powis told the Health Service Journal that all patient-facing staff will receive asymptomatic testing, with tests to be rolled out across 34 hospital trusts and cover "over 250,000 staff".

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter