Dr Peter Maskell, director of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust told BBC South East last night [Monday, January 25] that the two hospitals in Pembury and Maidstone were seeing four times more patients during this spike of coronavirus than during the first wave last spring.
He said: “We thought it was tough back then and we know it is tough now. I wouldn’t say we are at breaking point, but we are close.”
Across the South East 2,400 people are currently in hospital with Covid-19 and 213 of these are on ventilators.
Some of the critically ill in Kent and Sussex are even having to be transferred to hospitals as far away as Plymouth and Bristol.
In response, Paul Madden, Care Director of Hospice in the Weald, says the charity has made 14 private rooms, out of a total of 25, immediately available for patients at the end of their lives across its Cottage Hospice and In-Patient Ward in Pembury.
He said: “As MTW are admitting more than three or even four times the number of daily Covid cases than the previous peak and people are dying in ambulances waiting for hospital admission across the country, we want people to know that you don’t have to die alone in hospital, home, or worse.
“Care from Hospice in the Weald means you can still have visitors – we can offer beds directly to the families of those at the end of their lives, with or without Covid-19.”
The beds across Hospice in the Weald are available for anyone living with a terminal illness in Kent and Sussex, to help keep families together during one of the most difficult times of life.
To find out more contact the team at Hospice in the Weald directly on 01892 820515, or visit hospiceintheweald.org.uk and use the ‘access care’ button.
