OUR hospitals have faced pressures over the last year like no other as NHS staff work hard dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
As your local paper, we have been reporting what is happening inside our local hospitals and questioning the trust which runs them.
At a time like this, providing factual, accurate reports on what is happening is vital so that you, the public, are kept informed. It is important now, more than ever, that information relating to our hospitals is made public, even if it is sometimes difficult to hear.
When we publish articles about our hospital, we often get asked questions by our readers ranging from why we are being critical of the hospital during this difficult time, to why figures appear to be out of date.
The new hotspot of Weeke and Fulflood in Winchester A FURTHER 17 patients with coronavirus have died in hospitals across the county. Five of these were recorded at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Winchester hospital alongside Basingstoke and North Hampshire, and Andover Memorial hospitals. Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust runs Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals Positive tests across the district have also risen in the last 24 hours. There have been 49 new cases reported today; yesterday there were 32. This brings the district s total to 4,483 up from 4,434. The number of new cases continues to generally fall across the district except for one area, Winchester West, which covers Weeke and Fulflood and part of Harestock. The number of new cases has risen sharply in recent days with 41 cases in the seven days to January 31, the equivalent of a rolling rate of 411.4 per 100,000 people, far above the average for England.
NHS workers desperate plea after moving to hotel to protect pregnant fiancé and sick mum
A BASINGSTOKE hospital worker forced to move into a hotel is urging the public to stay at home so he can be reunited with his family. Yesterday, Kyle Hadnett moved into the Apollo Hotel in Basingstoke following concerns his job may put his clinically vulnerable family at higher risk of contracting coronavirus. The orthopaedic trauma discharge coordinator has left his 28-week pregnant fiancé and mother and father at home whilst he continues as a key worker on the front line. The 27-year-old is now pleading that the public plays their part as he is desperate to get home.
WHAT a year it is has been! These past 12 months have been unlike any other - and maybe it s just us, but 2020 felt like an awful lot longer than the 366 days the calendar claims it has been. It can be hard to recall what the world was like back when people could shake hands, not have to guess how far away two metres is while out and about, and the sight of a crowd was not cause for concern. So the Chronicle has taken a look back at some of the highs and lows of this year. First we look back to the first half of the year.