How Chesterfield Royal Hospital is ‘cautiously’ making changes after coronavirus peak

The hospital has confirmed it has reduced the number of Covid-19 wards from three to two and has now been able to restore some critical services.

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A total of 116 patients have sadly died at the Royal after testing positive for the virus.

At 4pm on Sunday, the hospital was caring for 35 people with the disease. That figure was 70 a few weeks ago.

The Royal revealed last week that 238 Covid-19 patients had been able to return home since March 21.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Angie Smithson, chief executive at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed six patients had tragically passed away with coronavirus since May 16.

She said: “All from local areas, they ranged in age from their late-60s to late-80s and were also suffering from other underlying and long-term health conditions.

“At this incredibly difficult time I extend our sympathies and sincere condolences to the family and friends who have lost loved ones.

“116 people from our communities have now died at Chesterfield Royal since March 24.”

She added: “At 4pm on Sunday, we were caring for 35 patients with coronavirus.

“Fewer hospital cases has enabled us to cautiously de-escalate our incident response and we have reduced the number of Covid-19 wards from three to two.

“We have also been able to restore a handful of critical services - including some urgent cancer diagnostics and surgeries.

“These have involved meticulous planning to keep both patients and staff safe.

“We are altering ways of working to maintain social distancing and to ensure hospital footfall remains at a minimum.

“While this is undoubtedly good news, we know we have to remain prepared for a second surge of cases - and do as much as we can to only bring people on to our site when it’s absolutely essential.

“We will be retaining successful technological solutions to keep people protected – including routine out-patient appointments over the telephone and on-screen.

“Our staff have done an incredible job to make sure patients continue to receive the best possible care – adapting to virtual clinics and appointments in an extremely short space of time.”

With warm weather forecast this week, Ms Smithson also urged people to act responsibly when outside.

“We want everyone to enjoy the outdoors and to get plenty of exercise, but appeal to the public in North Derbyshire to follow the latest Government guidance to continue to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and to continue to save lives,” she added.

Latest Government data shows there are currently 2,233 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Derbyshire – 1,654 in Derbyshire county and 579 in Derby city.

In total, 36,793 people have now died after testing positive for Covid-19 in hospitals, care homes and the wider community across the UK.

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