Covid deaths at single trust nearly double that of any other provider

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust had 72 covid-related in-hospital deaths in the 30 days to 13 July, with Pennine Acute Trust reporting 38 and the George Eliot Hospital Trust in Nuneaton and University Hospitals of Leicester Trust both recording 34.

In the last seven days EKHUFT has recorded 11.7 per cent of the national total (14 out of 121) although these figures may change as some deaths will not yet have been reported.

Across the county most trusts have seen a dramatic fall in the number of covid related deaths. Nationally just 3.4 per cent of total covid hospital deaths have been recorded in the last 30 days (986 out of 29,105). The comparable figure for East Kent is 17 per cent (72 out of 422). Only George Eliot has recorded a higher proportion (34 out of 174 or 19.5 per cent) and it has seen just eight deaths in the last fortnight, compared to East Kent’s 25.

East Kent is one of the biggest in the country and provides services to around 700,000 people but the number of deaths is still wholly out of proportion – it only covers around 1.3 per cent of the English population.

EKHUFT has previously said it was experiencing a second peak of covid with an outbreak of cases in Ashford. It put the high number of deaths down to the demographics of the population it serves, with an older than average population with significant co-morbidities.

Both Ashford and Folkestone and Hythe were on a list of areas with high infection rates causing concern at the weekend, though the actual numbers involved are now relatively low. Kent’s director of public health Andrew Scott-Clark said last week the county was seeing “little peaks” but was nowhere near a lockdown.

The trust is currently advertising for a director of infection prevention and control; its current organisational structure sees the role of DIPC combined with a medical director’s role at one of its three main hospitals.

According to the job advert, the DIPC will have “executive authority and responsibility” and “will include leading on the development and implementation of an effective trust wide infection prevention and control service.”

Yesterday a Care Quality Commission report into the trust’s two accident and emergency units criticised the one at the William Harvey Hospital for not controlling infection risk well, saying staff did not always use equipment and control measures to protect patients, themselves and others from infection. They did not always keep the premises and equipment visibly clean or follow the trust’s infection control policy and dirty items were stored where patients and visitors could come into contact with them.

However, the report – based on an inspection in early March – did say that staff were trained to use personal protective equipment and this was available to them.

HSJ has asked both the clinical commissioning group/sustainability and transformation partnership and NHS England’s south east regional office what support is being offered to the trust but has not yet had a response.

In last year’s annual report, the council of governors said that poor performance around hospital acquired infections was “of particular concern”.

HSJ also analysed Office of National Statistics data, which are broken down by lower tier local authority. This shows the East Kent area – which broadly matches the trust’s catchment area – had 170 covid deaths in the five weeks to July 3, 114 of them in hospital.

The five local authorities in East Kent have a population of 667,000 compared with the 1,194,00 in the rest of Kent and Medway which saw just 125 covid deaths in the same period – just 78 of them in hospital.