Inside Greater Manchester hospitals battling new Covid wave as doctor warns ‘we can’t rule out cancelling elective surgeries again’

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A new coronavirus wave, rising Covid admissions to our region’s hospitals, and patients who could be put at risk by impending staff shortages. This is the latest picture in Greater Manchester hospitals, frontline staff have warned.

It is ‘no surprise’ that coronavirus rates are in a renewed spiral, according to Greater Manchester’s lead Director of Public Health. Almost three weeks to the day after the government rolled back the remaining Covid safety measures, including isolation rules for those testing positive, virus figures were back on the climb.

But while the official picture is one of getting back to normal and ‘living safely with Covid’ - the region’s NHS medics and managers say different. Greater Manchester’s hospitals have only battled back from ‘one admission away from disaster’ as they fought Omicron in the New Year. The situation is still ‘on a knife edge’, and an uptick in coronavirus cases could spell yet more stress for staff, and risks to patient safety, according to an utterly pandemic-weary workforce.

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Frontline staff told the Manchester Evening News they fear 'another Omicron' scenario will hit hospitals and a doctor warned another round of elective surgery cancellation cannot be ruled out. One consultant says more than 10 people a day are waiting over 12 hours to be seen at a hospital in our region, while a paramedics says that the pressures that would once be seen on a hectic New Year's Eve are now 'normal' for a regular weekday morning.

Over the last two weeks, the M.E.N. has sought the views of more than ten staff members across a number of hospital trusts in Greater Manchester, including