The Omicron variant has caused a crisis in the staffing of vital services in Britain. This includes staff absenteeism in the NHS, 500 Transport for London workers missing work and a 54% increase in staff absences in one week.
The situation in the healthcare system is at its most critical in London, where absence levels are three times higher than at the start of the month – with Guy’s & St Thomas’ and King’s College trusts particularly badly hit.
London Ambulance Service reported that one out seven London doctors is now absent sick. The London Ambulance Service had an absence rate of 12% and NHS chiefs claimed they are already “busier this time of the year than ever”
Hospitals struggle to fulfill rotas. Additionally, there are increasing concerns that care may be compromised by staff being redeployed to viral wards. The Omicron epicentre in capital is where the greatest problems are.
These new numbers come at a time when the Covid-19 variant is continuing to cause an increase in cases across the country, with the recorded Covid-19 case rates rising over 100,000 for the first-ever since the outbreak.
More than one-tenth (10.5%) of UK doctors is off work, and more than half (4.2%) are out of work due to Covid. London has a one-in-seven (13.9%) off the job and one in thirteen (7.4%) due to Covid.
Rail travel is also affected by the situation. Bus operators blamed coronavirus-related staff shortages for large cancellations in December getaway periods. Transport for London closed an entire Tube line due to this.
From today, the Waterloo-City line is closed. Drivers will instead be able to keep the busy Central line open. Covid has caused approximately 500 TfL employees to be absent from their offices.
Others emergency services, such as the police force, have been also affected by staff absenteeism. However, the Metropolitan Police maintained that it is ‘continuing a resilient and powerful policing service for London’.
According to The National Police Chiefs Council, absence rates are not currently affecting our ability to deliver our usual service to the public. They also stated that sick numbers were lower than the January peak of 8 percent.
Sajid Javid, Health Secretary, praised ‘encouraging” evidence that Omicron is more mild than Delta. He expressed hope that a lockdown for the New Year can be avoided. This is despite SAGE experts warning that the UK remains in the “danger zone”.
The Office for National Statistics announced today that Covid-19 was present in an estimated 1.4 Million people across the UK in week ending December 16th, the highest figure since similar figures were first published in autumn of last year.
Today, people walk past St Thomas’ Hospital in London as NHS England released figures that showed staff absenteeism due to Covid-19 has more than tripled in acute hospitals trusts since December.
As the ambulance service reported a 12% absence rate, paramedics are moving patients into Royal London Hospital.
According to NHS England, 3,874 NHS employees at London’s acute hospitals trusts were absent last Sunday for Covid-19 reasons. This is more than twice the number of staff a week prior (1,540).
The latest figure is also more than three times the number who were off at the start of the month (1,174) – and the totals include staff who were ill with Covid-19 or who were having to self-isolate.
England overall saw an increase of 54% in the number of NHS staff working at acute hospitals on December 19 – this was up from 12,240 just a week before and 51% from 12,508 at beginning.
At Guy’s & St Thomas’ hospital trust in London, 515 staff were absent for Covid-19 reasons on December 19, up from 193 on December 12, while King’s College trust reported 505 absences, up from 193.
Another hospital trust in London that saw a steep rise in Covid-19 related absences is Imperial College (365) on December 19, up compared to 158 a few weeks earlier), Barts (338), up compared with 91, and Great Ormond Street (301) up compared to 70.
Stephen Powis is the NHS’ national medical director. He stated that: ‘The NHS has taken the fight to Omicron and staff are taking it on.’ The NHS boosts hundreds of thousands each day, treats thousands of Covid-ill patients, and provides urgent care. Meanwhile, Covid absence has been increasing at a alarming rate.
“We have been preparing to combat the increase in Covid infection and staff have made every effort to prepare for it. We’re recruiting thousands of nurses, reservists and other personnel. However, while this is a great way to ensure your safety and that of others, the best thing to do to keep yourself safe and protect them and their health is to be clear and follow the guidance.
Chris Hopson (CEO NHS Providers) stated that the numbers could worsen due to rising coronavirus infection rates.
He said, “These numbers show that Omicron has a tangible and immediate impact on services already functioning beyond their full capacity due to increased absences of staff.”
“This is a major concern for trust leaders, who do everything they can to support their colleagues during this extremely difficult time.
“Absences caused by Covid-19 have risen to nearly 40%, with the rise in community infections, it is possible that this number will only get worse.
The NHS England data also showed that one in five patients waited at least half an hour to be handed over from ambulance teams to A&E staff at hospitals in England last week.
All acute trusts recorded a total of 16,410 delays lasting 30 minutes or longer during the week that ended December 19. This represents 20% of all arrivals.
This figure is slightly down from the 23% of arrivals for the week up to December 12.
Some 7 per cent of arrivals last week (6,124) took more than 60 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams, down from 10 per cent in the previous week.
Handover delays do not necessarily mean that a patient has been waiting in an ambulance. They may have been moved into an A&E department, but staff were not available to complete the handover.
Hopson said that the NHS was facing its busiest Christmas season ever with 5 percentage points higher bed occupancy than last year.
He stated, “If we look at the larger picture, we have never been busier this time of year.”
“Our bed occupancy rate has increased to 94.5 percent from 89.9% last year.” This is a significant difference, and it means that we are much busier.
NHS England stated that on average, more than half of England’s inpatients (55%) were able to leave the hospital each day last week. This figure is roughly unchanged from the 54% averaged for the week before.
Hopson explained that Hospital bed occupancy continues to be high. He also stated, “Ambulance handover delays continue to cause deep concern. It is indicative of wider pressure on the entire system.
“It’s concerning to see the delayed discharges increase again for patients who have been allowed to return home.
“The NHS faces a major challenge in the coming weeks. It must deal with Covid-19 and handle emergencies. They also need to work on backlogs where necessary.
This is a result of a Royal College of Physicians survey that found one in ten doctors were off sick. Around half of absences can be directly attributed to staff being positive for Covid, or self-isolating.
Yesterday’s health officials called for staff to be “ring-fenced” on maternity units so that babies and mothers don’t suffer from staff shortages.
The NHS concentrated its resources on patients with viruses during the initial wave. This caused routine non-Covid healthcare, such as cancer, to suffer greatly.
Andrew Goddard (president of the Royal College of Physicians) stated that Absence was the most severe pandemic event since the March 2020 end. A tired, demoralised workforce has managed the effects of the pandemic almost for two years.
“We try to provide as many non-Covid services as possible, and we also have the normal winter rise for other respiratory conditions.”
President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Edward Morris stated: “Healthcare services already face chronic staff shortages and are especially concerned about redeploying maternity staff.
“Maternity Services are essential front door services. The in-patient maternity service provides care that is often unscheduled and urgent with workloads hard to predict.
Because of their special skills, maternity staff are not easily replaced. It is vital to ensure the survival and well-being of maternity care.
Gill Walton is the chief executive of Royal College of Midwives. She stated that “Maternity services buckle under the burden of demands and Covid staff absents that are as high at 45 percent in certain trusts.
“This happened because of severe shortages which existed prior to the pandemic. The pandemic has been accompanied by maternity support staff, midwives and other allied workers who have provided care for mothers, children and families 24 hours per day. We need to continue that.
“We’ve asked previously and are again asking for trust and board chief executive to protect maternity, keep midwives and maternity support workers where they’re most needed, care for mothers in maternity services.
Transport for London spokesperson said that the pandemic was affecting many organisations and businesses in the UK. There are many people who have become sick from Covid, or they self-isolating.
“Since the government advised people to work at home, we’ve seen less customers commute and ridership will drop further during the festive season.”
“The Central line is still busier than either the Waterloo or City lines, and this is why our Waterloo drivers and City driver will drive Central line trains. This is to make sure we continue providing a high-quality service to areas with greater demand. As a result, services on the Waterloo & City line will be suspended on Thursday until early January.
“Customers will continue to have many travel options. While we do our best to maintain a regular service, we recommend that everyone check the TfLGo app and our website before traveling as staff absences could cause disruptions to other services.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said that they continue to closely track absence rates within police, but these aren’t currently affecting our ability provide normal services to the public.
The plans of the Omicron variant have been well thought out by the Forces, which include good supplies of testing and PPE to mitigate the effects.
“Best use PPE guidance has been crucial in ensuring the absence rates remain within acceptable levels and protecting officers while they are out in public.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that despite the difficulties of Covid-19 the Met continues to deliver a strong and resilient policing service in London. It is not possible to give specific information about sickness rates.