Coronavirus: Experts warn that hospitals lack enough intensive care nurses to restart operations

‘Critical-care nurses have been working under extreme conditions and ... are physically tired and psychologically traumatised,’ say health bodies in joint statement

The organisations said that any activity frozen ahead of the coronavirus outbreak should not be restarted until the ratio of patients to nurses fell to 2 to 1 (Getty)

The NHS lacks enough essential critical-care nurses for hospitals to restart some services while thousands of Covid-19 patients remain in hospital, experts have warned.

The head of NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, wrote to hospitals earlier this week asking NHS trusts to begin non-coronavirus-related activities again now that the health service had come through the worst of the Covid-19 surge.

However, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) and the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) warned in a joint statement that there are not enough staff to safely cope with additional work.

The two organisations said any activity that was frozen ahead of the coronavirus outbreak should not be restarted until the ratio of patients to nurses fell to 2 to 1.

Nicki Credland, chair of the BACCN, said: “We currently remain in full surge (with an average ratio of six patients to every one intensive care qualified nurse) and a reintroduction of activity that requires critical care would not currently be sustainable.

“We need to ensure that discussions regarding restarting normal NHS activity take into consideration the impact on critical-care nurses who have been working under extreme conditions and who are physically tired and psychologically traumatised.

“Patient and staff safety must be given priority whilst accepting we must be pragmatic and mindful of the needs of non-Covid patients.”

Ahead of the surge in Covid-19 admissions, the NHS cancelled and delayed thousands of operations in an effort to free up 33,000 extra beds. About 19,000 patients are still in hospital with the illness.

With demand from Covid-19 cases beginning to decrease, however, NHS bosses are worried that patients may be risking their health and potentially their lives by not seeking help for strokes, cancer and heart disease, and are also concerned about the impact on patients of delays for procedures such as hip and knee surgeries.

The FICM, which represents over 3,500 intensive care doctors, said that many critical-care staff – including doctors, nurses and advanced critical-care practitioners – have been working significant amounts of extra hours or periods on-call in order to manage the current numbers of patients.

Many hospitals are still using emergency makeshift ICUs in recovery areas and operating theatres.

Dr Alison Pittard, dean of the FICM, said: “There is an understandable need to begin discussions on how to restart normal NHS activity. However, just as the government is taking an evidence-based view that lockdown measures must be lifted carefully to prevent another increase in cases, we must make the same cautious approach to reintroducing normal NHS activity that impacts on critical care.”

The FICM is the largest organisation of critical-care medical professionals in the UK.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “NHS staff are doing an incredible job in dealing with the biggest health threat in a generation, and have been joined by nearly 10,000 of their former colleagues who have returned to support the NHS in its response to coronavirus. Meanwhile we are working to ensure health services are ready as the NHS re-sets back to routine working."