Non-urgent outpatient work and day case activity has been rearranged at a Black Country hospital to help cope with the increasing number of Covid-19 patients being admitted.
The patients leaving Walsall s hospital will also receive a follow-up call from a trained professional who will identify any ongoing problems which need specific treatments, including psychological support and if required a face-to-face assessment or virtual support and rehabilitation.
Simon Harlin, a GP working with community services, said: “We know that around five to 10 per cent of people who recover from Covid will experience long-Covid.
“This is when some symptoms can last beyond 12 weeks - for example breathlessness, fatigue, and psychological problems. However it isn’t just the health effects people struggle with it can also be issues related to social support, housing and employment too.
L-r - sister Robyn Barrie, clinical support worker Lesley Bucknall and sister Rebekah Flight with some of the donations SCHOOLCHILDREN across the Dudley borough have been getting creative and putting their pens to paper by making and donating written Christmas cards to give to patients in hospital on Christmas Day. After the success of its Inpatient Christmas Card Appeal last year, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has been reaching out to schools across the borough, asking them to donate handwritten Christmas cards that will shared with patients having to spend Christmas at Russells Hall Hospital. Church of the Ascension Primary School, Sutton School, Pegasus Academy and Crestwood School and Sixth Form have all been getting involved, bringing the total number of donated cards to more than 1,000.
Are hospitals REALLY creaking under the strain of Covid before Christmas? NHS data shows trusts are STILL quieter than last December - with seven times fewer wards close to being full
Average intensive care ward occupancy down to 75 per cent from 84 per cent from the same time last year
15,465 people in hospital with Covid in England on Wednesday compared to 18,974 on worst day in spring
But statistics suggest the health service is, overall, coping better with its workload than it did last winter