Instances of patients catching COVID-19 whilst at Milton Keynes Hospital are 'relatively rare', according to the hospital boss.
Stories have been circulating, both locally and nationally, about people who have gone into hospital for non-covid related issues only to later develop symptoms and test positive whilst on a hospital ward.
Back in November 2020, national data suggested that infections amongst patients in a healthcare setting had increased to 20% compared to 12% the month before, according to an analysis by two University of Oxford researchers.
This data was in line with the national trend, whereby the number of infections, in general, had been on the rise - and said infections are now at a record high.
In Milton Keynes, one resident reported that her uncle allegedly went into the hospital for issues related to his lung cancer, initially had a negative coronavirus test, and days later tested positive.
Heavily circulated incidents like these, alongside high infection rates, have led to residents debating whether to avoid hospitals altogether despite the Government and health officials insisting they are safe.
Professor Joe Harrison, CEO of Milton Keynes Hospital, today (6/1) told MKFM that instances of catching coronavirus within our local hospital are "relatively rare".
The CEO spoke to Darren, from the MK Breakfast show, about the hospital's data from the last 28 days. It was revealed that 566 patients have come through the hospital with coronavirus, and that 11 people are said to have caught the virus within the organisation itself.
Professor Harrison explained: "One of the challenges with this virus is that a patient can be tested in the emergency department and show negative, and then four or five days later - we test patients routinely in our hospital - they can be shown as being positive. The patient and their family will often say to me 'my father [or] my son, has caught covid in your hospital'. The nature of the virus is that it sometimes, quite often, doesn't present for a number of days. The patient will have symptoms, get admitted, and quite often the test will initially come back negative and then come back positive and that is a real challenge."
This means that patients who initially test negative may be in the incubation period of the virus, and it was undetectable at that point.
These instances have been a problem for the hospital, ultimately meaning that staff too may become infected. Milton Keynes Hospital currently employs over 4,500 people to work in all aspects of the organisation, ranging from surgeons to administrators.
Hospital staff are not immune, and are working in a high-risk setting, meaning that a high number of staff have to self-isolate. Professor Harrison revealed during the MKFM broadcast that around 200-300 staff members are either off sick or having to self-isolate each day.
This means that the hospital has to deal with subsequent staff shortages alongside the demands from the pandemic.
Professor Harrison says that hospital staff are coping "well", but asks residents to support them by staying at home and abiding by lockdown rules.
