160 patients died after catching Covid at Peterborough hospital trust

Between March 2020 and March 2021, 471 patients caught the virus at a hospital run by the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.

Of those, 159 passed away.

The figure is nearly a quarter of all Covid-19 deaths at the trust over the same time period (693).

The information is included in a Freedom of Information request from The Guardian which reported this week that up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid-19 while in hospital being treated for another medical problem.

The newspaper said that 32,307 people probably or definitely contracted the disease while in hospital since March 2020, based on responses from 81 of the 126 trusts from which it sought figures, with 42 said to not have complied fully with the FOI request.

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the paper that hospital-acquired Covid “remains one of the silent scandals of this pandemic, causing many thousands of avoidable deaths”.

University Hospitals Birmingham recorded the highest number of infections (1,463) and deaths (408) from patients who caught Covid while receiving hospital treatment.

Another eight trusts also had 200 or more deaths.

The North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust runs Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland hospitals, with the former two used during the pandemic to treat Covid patients.

In total, the trust has had 2,668 patients with Covid at one of its hospitals in the year up to March 1, 2021.

An according to the FOI, 855 members of staff contracted the virus over the same time period, with 3,619 absent from work due to Covid.

Three staff members have died from the virus.

Dr Kanchan Rege, chief medical officer for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Office for National Statistics has conclusively shown that NHS staff and patients are more likely to be affected when infections in the community are higher.

“Throughout the pandemic the trust has had robust infection prevention and control measures in place, such as regularly testing staff and patients, more frequent cleaning, zoning our hospitals for Covid and non-Covid patients and limiting visiting, in line with national guidance.

“Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have sadly lost their battle with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.”

The Peterborough Telegraph has asked the trust how many of the patient Covid cases and deaths were registered at each of its three hospitals but has yet to receive a response.