More than half of staff at one NHS trust are reportedly off work due to isolation rules with operations cancelled, while patients suffering with Covid are up by a third in a week. (Image: NurPhoto/PA Images)The Independent reports that hospitals and ambulance services have seen a surge in demand from patients as staff are redeployed to new Covid wards. A black alert is the most severe of the Operations Pressure Escalation Levels (OPEL), which is a method for the NHS to measure stress, demand and pressure. NHS England classes a black alert as a "serious incident", which means the system is under severe pressure. Ellen Ryabov, chief operating officer at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the trust continues to experience pressure on bed capacity but last week 'was no different to other recent weeks.'

Source: Daily Mirror July 19, 2021 23:45 UTC