Covid spike leads to significant hospital delays across West Yorkshire and Harrogate

Hospitals are warning patients they face "significant delays" and say routine operations may be postponed due to a spike in Covid cases.

The number of inpatients with the virus across West Yorkshire and Harrogate has risen from 165 on 25 June to 574.

West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) said the rise also means A&E departments are extremely busy.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Ambulance Service is on the "highest alert level" because of extremely high demand.

Dr Phil Wood, chief medical officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The significant upsurge in Covid-19 cases in West Yorkshire and Harrogate means that our hospitals are facing extreme pressures.

"Our teams are doing everything they can to make sure that services are safe and, in some cases, planned treatment may need to be postponed."

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics an estimated 2.7 million people in the UK have Covid, with the rise being driven by fast-spreading sub-variants of Omicron - called BA.4 and BA.5.

WYAAT, which represents the Airedale, Bradford, Calderdale & Huddersfield, Harrogate & District, Leeds and Mid Yorkshire hospital trusts, is urging people to only attend A&E in "genuine, life-threatening emergencies or in the case of serious injury".

The warm weather is also contributing to the extra demand hospitals, with an extreme heat weather warning for England and Wales in place until Tuesday.

Dr Sal Uka, Medical Lead at WYAAT, said: "The heatwave we are currently experiencing is adding further pressure on our hospitals and I would urge people to limit their exposure to the sun and to keep hydrated to prevent heatstroke and heat exhaustion."

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the volume of calls it is receiving is having a "significant impact" on its operations.

A spokesperson said: "We have taken the decision to move to REAP Level 4, our highest level of escalation, and while the situation is being managed in line with the plans that we have in place to protect our core services, unfortunately there are patients who are facing delays and we are very sorry that we are unable to respond to them as quickly as we would like."

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