Northwick Park Hospital has declared a “critical incident” due to a surge in patients with coronavirus, with one senior director calling the development “petrifying”.
In a message to staff, the hospital said it has no critical care capacity left and has contacted neighbouring hospitals about transferring patients who need critical care to other sites.
The HSJ (Health Service Journal) report that the message read: “I am writing to let you know that we have this evening declared a ‘critical incident’ in relation to our critical care capacity at Northwick Park Hospital. This is due to an increasing number of patients with Covid-19.
“This means that we currently do not have enough space for patients requiring critical care.
“As part of our system resilience plans, we have contacted our partners in the North West London sector this evening to assist with the safe transfer of patients off of the Northwick Park site”
A potential lack of critical care beds in England has been the major concern around coronavirus, and trusts are repurposing wards and retraining staff to try and create more capacity.
