Trust with record covid deaths asks NHSE  for help

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust is also getting help from the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, including a senior infection control and prevention nurse who is now working with the trust.

It has seen persistently high numbers of covid deaths at a time when most other trusts have seen them dwindle to nothing or almost nothing. In the week to 10 July, it had 18 deaths – 9.5 per cent of the national total. 

In the 30 days to 13 July, it recorded 90 per cent more covid-related deaths than any other NHS provider. It saw 72 covid-related in-hospital deaths in that period, with Pennine Acute Trust reporting 38 and the George Eliot Hospital Trust in Nuneaton and University Hospitals of Leicester Trust both recording 34.

In a statement to HSJ yesterday the trust said it had “recently asked for support from NHS England and NHS Improvement to strengthen our infection prevention and control resource”. 

It said it had also introduced “a strict ‘front door’ policy, limiting the number of people on site, taking temperature checks before people enter the building, providing face masks and hand washing facilities”; begun testing asymptomatic staff; and regularly testing asymptomatic patients.

The trust said: “We are working closely with local health partners to fully understand the recent number of deaths but we know that the population of east Kent is significantly older, with more comorbidities than the England average. We are one of the largest trusts in the country.”

A spokesman for NHS England South East said: “Hospitals across the country have longstanding effective mechanisms for infection prevention and control and the NHS has regularly communicated the guidance published by Public Health England. The region has agreed a package of support with the trust to strengthen its IPC which includes the expertise of a specialist IPC nurse and additional IPC training.”

HSJ understands that the Care Quality Commission is closely monitoring the situation at the trust.

In a report to the trust board this morning, chief medical officer Rebecca Martin said it was working with NHSE and public health to understand the causes.

“I and my colleagues at East Kent are really determined we will not be complacent but we will do everything we can to learn more about this virus,” she said.

She said deaths had declined over the last four weeks but the trust had not seen a similar decline to other trusts in inpatients with covid. Whereas many trusts had been seeing an average of 10 per cent of the numbers they had seen at the peak, East Kent had continued to see around a third as many.

The trust is also recruiting a director of infection prevention and control which it says has been planned for some time. It is not a board position but will report to board level.

• A baby who was dying of TB waited almost six hours to be seen by a consultant in an A&E department at the trust’s Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Hospital in Thanet, according to reports today. Luchii Gavrilescu had contacted the disease from his father, who was unaware he had it. His death in December was initially put down to sepsis but a serious incident report found that his case had not been escalated to consultants, who were unaware of him. Several members of the family and friends have since been screened and found to have TB.