Workers at hospital hit by staff shortages during Omicron wave warned annual leave is at risk

Exclusive: One hospital trust forced to tell staff they can not make new holiday requests

(EPA)

Staff shortages at two hospitals in the UK have forced one to warn time off may have to be cancelled and another to suggest planned operations will be cut in January as the Omicron variant causes soaring infections.

University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust was forced to tell staff last week they could not make any new holiday requests and that current leave may be cancelled as it experiences “significant pressures”, according to an email seen by The Independent.

Meanwhile, in an email seen by The Independent, Barts Health Trust wrote to doctors warning it may have to cancel “some or much” of its planned operations in January to cope with the coming Covid surge, caused by the fast-spreading new variant.

The trust, which runs three hospitals in London, also suggested it will have to rely on staff volunteering for extra shifts to avoid cancelling leave and redeploying workers, as staff absences due to Covid have become a “major challenge”.

Daily Covid cases in the UK have been pushed to record levels in the past week and hospital admissions in London jumped by 34 per cent in just seven days, latest government figures show.

According to reports from the Health Service Journal, internal modelling from the NHS in London suggests the capital’s hospitals could be overwhelmed within two to three weeks.

Doctors at Barts Health Trust, the largest in the capital, were warned over the weekend that admissions would continue to rise this week. In leaked emails seen by The Independent, the trust said it is preparing for a “significant number of sick patients”.

Elsewhere in the country, workers with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust were told in an email from executive directors last week it had seen a 50 per cent increase in Covid cases among its staff.

The email said: “NHS England has now declared a level four national incident across the whole NHS. This means there is a significant risk to the NHS being able to provide care to patients unless the spread of infection is slowed.”

The trust has placed all of its ambulance control centres and stations on “lockdown” to tackle infection rates and has asked staff to consider if they should be attending any large parties or other celebrations this Christmas.

The trust said these parties were a “significant” factor in the increase in staff being off with Covid.

On Saturday the British Medical Association union warned on Saturday almost 50,000 NHS staff may be off sick with Covid come Christmas day.

Barts HealthTrust warned doctors on Sunday staff absences due to Covid were “already a major challenge” and “will increase inevitably”.

The email said: “At this point in time we have to be ready for a number of possible scenarios, up to and including a very large number of admissions. It may peak and recede quickly, and if so, we have to be ready to manage that peak.

“The expectation is that in the week after Christmas we may start to see hospital admissions rise, and that rise may continue into January.”

It said in the week between Christmas and New Year “elective services are much reduced”, adding the trust will then decide on its options for January which could include taking down “some or much” of its planned operations to meet the Covid surge.

Addressing potential staffing gaps Professor Chesser said: “We do not expect to change rotas and schedules fundamentally between now and the end of this week, relying on people to volunteer for extra shifts, though staff absence will inevitably lead to some local reprioritisation. 

“I appreciate this is a big ask. People showing flexibility and a willingness to step in with extra work when they can will, we hope, obviate the need for early redeployment and or cancellation of annual leave, so this really is important.”

Staff were also asked to minimise discharge delays and told “every day we have people ready to step down from ITU but with no bed to step into”.

Last week NHS England published data which showed Barts Health Trust was one of the few hospitals which reported it did not have any patients still in hospital who did not meet the criteria to be there.

The medical director also thanked staff: “Throughout the pandemic you have been absolutely outstanding. If we need to step up again, I have no doubt about your professionalism, commitment, skill, care and compassion. Our patients and our staff owe you an immeasurable debt of gratitude.”

The news comes after London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a major incident on Saturday as the number of patients in the city’s hospitals reached 1,534 and daily admissions increased to 201.

Last week The Independent revealed NHS leaders had been warned the number of patients in hospital could reach 2,269 by 3 January.

Alistair Chesser, group chief medical officer at Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Our hospitals are currently running as usual but we have plans in place to redeploy staff in the coming weeks, should we need to. We are only able to respond to this next challenge because of our dedicated staff who are prepared to do all they can to care for our patients, with many taking on extra shifts.”