‘Most challenging time’ in Covid outbreak as Peterborough City Hospital sees highest number of patients say public health chiefs

The recently set up Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council Local Outbreak Engagement Board heard at its online meeting this week (January 12) that: “…We are now in the most challenging time that our local NHS trusts have faced.”

That was the message from Dr Liz Robin, Director of Public Health for Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) and Peterborough City Council (PCC) who is also a co-opted member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CPCCG).

Speaking to members of Local Outbreak Engagement Board at only their second online meeting, the message could not have been made clearer.

“This is a very challenging time and even though infection rates in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are still just below the national average and that of the East of England, they are rising dramatically,” said Dr Robin.

“The rise in Cambridgeshire is much more rapid than it is Peterborough, which simply wasn’t the case looking at the figures from just a month ago.

“Those most at risk are in the age group 60-plus, and for Peterborough the numbers of persons infected with Covid-19 is 506 per 100,000 as of January 6, which is an increase of 15.1 per cent since December 30; and of these 506 persons, 337 of them are in the 60-plus age group.

“At the moment, there are also signs of a sharp rise in cases in Cambridgeshire throughout the second-half of December, especially over the Christmas and New Year holiday period; while in Peterborough, even though the numbers of cases are higher than they were mid-December, that rise is not quite as sharp.

“If we look at the numbers of patients in hospital, there is a huge increase right across the spectrum, particularly in Addenbrookes which has shown the highest rise of all the North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT) hospitals.

“At Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) and Hinchingbrooke, again, there have been increases in Covid-19 cases, but the rate of increase is slightly less acute than at Addenbrookes.

“What all of this means, of course, is that sadly the mortality rate has also increased and at PCH mortality rates are higher now than they were at the peak of Lockdown One in April and May, and still rising.

“In summary, the epidemiology in both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough paints a worrying picture, and it’s absolutely essential that we get across to everybody the messages that are being given to us by the government – we must stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

“We mustn’t scare people; but at the same time we need to find a way to convince people tha this  is very serious indeed with the new highly-contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK which means they must stay indoors, they mustn’t mix unnecessarily and that this is the most critical time that our NHS trusts are facing.”

Jan Thomas, Chief Accountable Officer CPCCG added: “As of January 11, 2021, there were 125 ovid-19 patients at Peterborough City Hospital, and 72 at Hinchingbrooke.

“Not all of those will be in ICU on ventilators of course, but those figures represent people in hospital requiring Covid-19 treatment, which means that we now have more people in our hospitals than we ever had during Lockdown One, and by quite a large margin.”

Dr Gary Howsam, Clinical Chair CPCCG responded: “We must also try to get away from the idea that people on ventilators are the only ones getting treatment for Covid-19.

“We have a whole new load of treatments now that don’t involve ventilation – so there can be some very, very sick people in the hospital with coronavirus that are not on ventilators.”

Cllr Peter Hudson (Conservative, South Cambs District Council), added: “The figures for Addenbrookes up to  January 8, 2021, show 206 Covid-19 patients of which 57 are in critical care.”

The Local Outbreak Engagement Board was formed late last month in response to increases in both recorded numbers of people contracting the coronavirus, as well as greater numbers needing medical attention as a result and hospitalisation.

Following their first online meeting just before Christmas, Chair for the second meeting, Cllr John Holdich, Leader of Peterborough Council, called upon his fellow members: “…to take the role of this board much more seriously as we see the rapid increases in Covid-19 numbers in our region.

“We have a duty to inform the residents of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough of the seriousness of the situation, and while we must stop short of scare-mongering people into obeying the lockdown rules, it’s quite clear that there will be some delay – possibly months – before many getting a vaccine jab.

“All of which means that in the interim we have to reassure them that keeping to the rules of Lockdown Three, is the only way we can defeat Covid-19”.