'It's incredibly hard work'- Chesterfield Royal Hospital releases emotional Covid-19 update as town braces for Tier 3

As the current national lockdown heads into its last few days, the hospital has been contacted by residents asking if the restrictions have made a difference.

In an emotional update on the hospital’s Facebook page, a spokesperson for the hospital said that although cases of coronavirus in the surrounding community appear to be lessening, many patients still require hospital care and treatment - not just in the Royal, but across the country.

The Royal is currently treating 44 coronavirus patients and 12 of these are in intensive care.

"Demand on our critical care services has been sustained and consistently high,” said the spokesperson.

"It’s been a really tough job to keep three intensive care areas staffed- two areas with 16 beds for Covid patients, 8 beds in a separate area for non-Covid patients.

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“And of course we continue to look after up to 400 other patients, children, new mums and babies who need to be in hospital.”

The hospital is also continuing to carry out operations for cancer and other urgent conditions.

"It’s fair to say though that routine operations are affected and next week for example we’ve had to postpone around 20 procedures so theatre staff can support critical care,” the spokesperson went on.

"We are balancing higher levels of staff sickness than we’d normally see - thanks to Covid and the need to isolate - and so every day is a challenge, to make sure care can be provided safely.

"It’s always devastating when we have to let our patients down. We thank everyone affected who has shown us such understanding for the current circumstances.

“This day to day reality is proving tough for many colleagues and we’ve certainly had an emotional week for lots of reasons.

"This second phase of the pandemic, coping with the usual winter pressures and trying to restore our services is incredibly hard work.

"We’re taking every opportunity we can to look after our staff - as well as our patients - and we have lots of health and well-being offers in place for them including counselling and psychological debriefing.

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"This is the toughest year we’ve ever faced and COVID-19 has impacted all staff. We’ve been fantastic at looking after each other though and teamwork has never been so important.”

It comes after the Government announced that Chesterfield along with the whole of Derbyshire would be placed at Tier 3 level once the national lockdown finishes on December 2.

“We know the tier system has caused lots of controversy - along with the news that all social restrictions will be lifted over Christmas,” added the hospital spokesperson.

“With the promised COVID-19 vaccine on the way and more mass testing, there are positives to look forward to that will help to bring the pandemic under control.

"Not overnight but gradually over many months. We’d like to thank everyone for doing their bit to protect the NHS so far.

"In the next few weeks we’d urge that support to continue, regardless of the tiers and Christmas ‘bubbles’.

"Remember hands, face and space - and if we all do our bit we can still enjoy a different type of Christmas and keep everyone safe.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.