Wigan doctors urge public to follow lockdown rules to reduce strain on health services during second Covid-19 wave

“We are well prepared for a second surge”. That was the pledge made this summer by the doctor tasked with leading Wigan’s hospital response to the Covid-19 pandemic. And today, Dr Sanjay Arya reasserted his belief that the borough’s health services are ready to fight the second wave, despite it putting far more pressure on the NHS than the first outbreak earlier this year.
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Wigan’s health services are under more pressure from the second wave of Covid-19 than when the pandemic broke out earlier this year, but medical bosses are confident of being far more prepared.

The second wave of the virus has seen the borough go from having one of the lowest rates of infection in Greater Manchester, to currently having the second highest.

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Last week, that rise saw Wigan’s NHS Trust, WWL, make the decision to scale back the number of non-emergency procedures and appointments. And Wigan Infirmary’s dedicated Covid unit, Bryn Ward, is currently at full capacity.

Bryn Ward at Wigan InfirmaryBryn Ward at Wigan Infirmary
Bryn Ward at Wigan Infirmary

But the borough’s doctors, nurses, GPs and other healthcare professionals are in a stronger position to fight the higher number of infections, having learned vital information and acquired new drugs and equipment to treat the most poorly.

Today, Dr Sanjay Arya and Dr Tim Dalton spoke about how health services were combining forces to fight the virus a second time.

But the fight is not only for the health service, they said, but one that the public must also play a vital role in.

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Dr Arya, a consultant cardiologist and medical director who has been leading WWL’s response to the pandemic, said: “We are experiencing a very high level of demand at the hospital, and there are currently more patients in (Wigan Infirmary)] than we had in the first phase of the pandemic.

Dr Sanjay AryaDr Sanjay Arya
Dr Sanjay Arya

“As a result of that, some services are over stretched.

“We are coping, but the fact does remain that people are working exceptionally hard and very long hours, to try to maintain the safe care of our patients.”

“It is unfortunate that after having one of the lowest number of Covid-positive patients to now being the second highest.”

Dr Arya said staffing levels were becoming a troubling issue for Wigan Infirmary during the second wave, due to more medical workers being tested for the virus.

Dr Tim DaltonDr Tim Dalton
Dr Tim Dalton
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“This time, we are seeing some staffing issues in the hospital. That is because we are testing more of our staff and if they are positive they have to isolate,” he said.

He added: “We are continuing to deal with services such as cancer care, maternity, life limb and sight saving procedures, and are also carrying out some elective surgery and elective out-patient clinics, in person where essential but otherwise remotely.

“Unlike last time, when we stopped all elective work, this time we are managing that as long as we are able to.

“We’d like to reassure people of Wigan that we are continuing to treat life saving and emergency conditions. If you have a serious, life-threatening condition like a heart attack, stroke or severe abdominal pain, please do not resist coming to the hospital. We are well prepared to help such patients.”

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Dr Arya said that, although the number of hospital admissions and positive Covid tests were rising, a large proportion of this could be put down to a higher capacity for testing, as well as more people having the confidence to seek treatment.

He said: “Last time, the testing facilities were not as freely available and therefore, the more people you test, the more positive cases you will identify. Secondly, people were very scared of coming to the hospital, and sadly many did not seek help. People are now aware of the treatment available for their symptoms, so more people are accessing the healthcare because there is that treatment available.”

Dr Dalton, chair of Wigan’s Clinical Commissioning Group, said GPs and pharmacies were also working hard to cope with the increased demand, and were adapting to provide more services remotely, such as providing video appointments wherever possible to minimise unnecessary travel, but still providing face to face services when needed.

“The hospitals and the community are so inter-related. If the community manages well, so does the hospital,” he said.

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“We are being more proactive and have redeployed how we use our staff around more vulnerable parts of the borough, such as our nursing and residential homes.

“They all now have an aligned GP practice to make sure there is continuous care there. The GPs are visiting on a planned basis rather than just a reactive basis.”

Dr Dalton added: “There are a lot of things that the health and care services are doing, but we equally need the public to do their bit. It’s the simple stuff that makes a big difference. Washing your hands, keeping your distance, wearing a mask - I know it’s annoying to wear a mask, but it works- and by only going on journeys when you need to.

“Last time, when we went into lockdown, that stopping of huge travel made a huge difference and allowed us to get things back under control very quickly. That’s what we really need our public to help us with. If we can drop the prevalence level of this disease circulating, we can get back to normal as we were over the summer.”

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Dr Dalton said higher rates of social interaction had also contributed to the larger second wave.

He said: “There is clearly more interaction between people now than there was in the late spring. It is also a better time of year for viruses to spread, and that is why it’s really important to go back to the basics.”

Dr Arya and Dr Dalton explained several ways in which the NHS was avoiding being overrun and running out of beds.

Firstly, a specialist service for “long Covid” patients, who have been suffering with long-term effects of the virus, is being set up at Leigh Infirmary.

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This will allow them to free up vital beds at the hospital, while also making sure that patients such as care home residents who have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19, can still be looked after for a certain length of time after recovering from the virus, thus minimising the risk of spreading it when returning to their care homes.

WWL is also working closely with the Nightingale hospital in central Manchester to make sure that Covid patients have access to the vital care they need.