Update 6 Jan: Five London trusts see deaths more than double in a week hsj.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hsj.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Annabelle Collins2020-12-31T12:44:00+00:00
Hospital chief executives and senior NHS workers were among those included in the New Year’s Honours list.
Barts Health Trust chief executive Alwen Williams has been made a dame in acknowledgement of services to the NHS. Ms Williams has had a 40-year career in the NHS. She has taken Barts Health from being in special measures in 2015 to a trust with many services rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.
Barts is one of the largest trusts in the NHS. It is based in east London and has been heavily hit by covid, recording over 900 deaths from the disease to date.
Advertisement
The scientist leading the UK coronavirus vaccination programme has defended the decision to extend the gap between the two doses, insisting it is the way we save lives .
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam says waiting 12 weeks between jabs rather than the original three will protect those most at risk of dying from Covid-19, adding that the focus must be to deliver first vaccine doses to as many people, in the shortest possible timeframe .
As the first supplies of the Oxford vaccine arrived in the UK yesterday, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer – who has become the trusted face of Downing Street press conferences during the crisis – predicted that tens of millions of doses will be available by the end of March.
By Jasmine Rapson2020-12-23T12:44:00+00:00
Additional trusts in covid hotspots such as Kent and London to start giving covid vaccine
A total of 18 trusts have been added to the vaccine programme, bringing the total number of hospitals up to 82
Several NHS trusts in covid hotspot areas will start receiving batches of the vaccine for the first time, according to NHS England.
Barts Health Trust, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells and Bedfordshire FT are among the latest set of trusts that will start providing the covid vaccine to over 80s and health and care staff.
These three trusts all operate in tier four areas with the highest rate of covid.
Covid infections caught in hospital doubling in some trusts
Almost one in four hospital covid cases caught in hospital
The number of people likely to have caught covid-19 in NHS hospitals in England has risen by more than a third in the last week.
The 35 per cent rise in probable hospital-acquired covid-19 from 6 to 13 December is the highest weekly increase since 30 October,
HSJ analysis of NHS England data reveals.
Hospital-acquired infections are rising across areas such as London, the South East, and South West, and also at some hospitals in the North East, Yorkshire and the Midlands.
At some trusts, the weekly total of likely hospital-acquired covid-19 infections has more than doubled since last week.