Southend Hospital: staff fear 'impending doom'

Staff at the Mid and South Essex Hospital Trust are fearful as Covid-19 cases and hospital admissions rise on a daily basis and have urged the public to take care to curb the spread of the virus.

At the moment, across England there are more patients with Covid-19 being treated in hospital, at 3,451, than there were in the days before the nationwide lockdown in March, when there were 3,097 patients in hospital.

According to the most recent figures available, 34 patients were admitted to Southend Hospital in the week ending October 6. The figures are not yet available for Basildon Hospital.

Busy - Southend Hospital

A Mid and South Essex Hospital Trust insider, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Echo staff are now fearful.

She said: “There is a fear of impending doom. Staff are fearing for their own safety and the safety of the community.

“The public need to support these new measures.

“Bed usage is relatively low at the moment, but we’ve been told about what could happen in the north within three weeks.

“Staff are saying they will leave if it gets any worse. They can’t do it anymore. It’s having a huge affect on our mental health and wellbeing.

“It’s going to be an issue. The NHS is in crisis during winter without Covid on top.”

According to latest statistics 357 new cases were confirmed across Southend, Basildon, Castle Point, Rochford and Thurrock over the last seven days.

In Southend, there were 73 new cases confirmed. That is a rise from 66 in the previous seven-day period.

In Basildon, 117 new cases were confirmed, a rise from 94 cases in the previous seven-day period.

Castle Point recorded 51 new cases against 33 in the seven days prior while Rochford saw 32 new cases. In the seven-days prior, 16 new cases were confirmed.

George Bejko-Cowlbeck, director at Caddies, in Southend, said: “Any bar or club will struggle with another lockdown, it’s probably going to even more challenging than the first lockdown, that’s the scary thing.

“It’s going to have a big impact locally if that happens, that’s why it’s really important that people follow the guidelines on social distancing, not only is it lives on the line but livelihoods. It’s even more of a stark warning that if we are careful and we go out sensibly and follow the rules – I’ve been to a few bars where social distancing has been fantastic – we won’t follow the same fate as Merseyside which seems to be getting the big brunt of it. It would be a death sentence for a lot of venues in Southend.”