Coronavirus: Half of NHS beds in NI lying empty, as BMA says that non-Covid-19 patients could die as a result

Dr Tom Black, NI chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), told the News Letter that although planning for the worst case scenario of a Covid-19 surge had been essential, Government must now start to consider when it should reopen normal wards again.

He was speaking after it was revealed that tens of thousands of NHS hospital beds right across the UK are lying unoccupied amid the Coronavirus crisis — about four times the normal number of empty places — due to huge ongoing efforts to free up space for an expected Covid-19 surge.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that the national average for empty beds is now 40.9% – and that even the most serious Covid-19 hotspots – London, Birmingham and the Black Country — still have 28.9% and 38.2% of beds lying empty. The HSJ also reported that London’s Nightingale hospital is also largely empty.

The News Letter put the HSJ figures to the Department of Health (DOH) and asked what percentage of NI beds are empty, how many intensive care beds here are empty; and what percentage of NHS volunteers have been deployed? The DOH did not provide answers, instead redirecting the News Letter to the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) on the first two questions. However, in the meantime, full details on all three questions were then released by Health Minster Robin Swann to the Assembly and wider media yesterday afternoon when he briefed that the peak of the coronavirus crisis in Northern Ireland may be “less severe than first feared” and may already have been reached.

He said 1,900 acute and geriatric beds are currently lying empty across NI (49%) while hospitals are coping with a so-far comparatively smaller number of 603 patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. He also confirmed that 56 of NI’s 155 intensive care beds also remain empty. Technically, the News Letter has still not been provided with this information in response to its enquiries.

Asked if it was possible that non-Covid-19 patients would die because so many of them are going to be missing out vital treatments in hospital at this time, the BMA’s Dr Tom Black told the News Letter: “Sure. That was a decision that was made. Everything is about doing the best you can for the greatest number of people.”

NI had to ensure it did not run out of intensive care beds in light of the tragedies in Italy, Spain and France, he said, so he was “not surprised” that almost half of NI’s acute hospital beds are currently empty.

Dr Black said the level of empty NHS beds in NI is “reasonable” given that many doctors and nurses have been pulled from routine wards into Covid-19 related wards. He says up to one nurse per bed may have been required for a surge, as well as a dense coverage of doctors. “But I think your point is right,” he added. “They now have to look and see ‘do we transition people back into acute care beds?’ - cancer patients have been a real worry of ours throughout all of this.” He added: “I don’t think you should ignore this empty bed thing. I think it is reasonable we have to answer questions about this.”

However he noted that many non-Covid-19 patients are now being cared for in independent hospitals. A further 1345 non-Covid19 patients still remain in NI’s NHS hospitals.