Military personnel supporting Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Covid-19 battle

On Tuesday, the NHS announced that 400 military personnel had been deployed to hospitals in the Midlands and London to offer help during the pandemic.

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Chesterfield Royal Hospital spokesperson Sarah Turner-Saint said: “We have welcomed personnel from the UK armed forces to Chesterfield Royal Hospital this week and are incredibly grateful to them and around another 400 military personnel across the Midlands and London, who are working with us in the NHS to help with a range of clinical and support service tasks on the ‘frontline’.

“Along with volunteers from St John Ambulance Service and colleagues who have changed their retirement plans during the pandemic, there has been a mammoth team effort to respond to unprecedented pressure on services.

“We absolutely appreciate all the support we are benefitting from as a result of these partnerships.”

She added: “At the present time we continue to experience extremely high demand on our services, both with the usual winter pressures we’d normally see at this time of year and with cases of Covid-19.

“With around 150 patients confirmed positive for coronavirus at the moment, we have double the number on our wards we saw at the height of the pandemic in April 2020.

“Our staff are providing exceptional care in challenging circumstances and our operational plans are enabling us to be flexible – so we can adapt at pace.

“We would urge our communities to continue to follow the guidelines of the national pandemic, to practice ‘hands, face and space’ to help to protect the NHS.

“We thank them for everything they are continuing to do, right now, to support our hospital and primary care services.”

Ms Turner-Saint confirmed that the trust had recorded a total of 279 deaths related to Covid-19 and offered condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one during the pandemic.

Since March last year, some 950 coronavirus patients have been discharged home after being treated at the Royal.

Across the UK, the total number of deaths recorded during the pandemic in the UK now stands at 91,470.

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