BASINGSTOKE hospital has been placed on ‘black alert’ as it grapples with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, The Gazette can report. 

The status was declared by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in January, following a sharp rise in patients with Covid-19.

The board of directors was informed last week that more than 200 patients were being treated for Covid in hospitals run by the Trust (HHFT).

Of these patients, 147 were in Basingstoke hospital, 78 in Winchester and four in Andover.

The board of directors heard that staff were showing “signs of fatigue” with increasing absence at the same time as patient numbers are increasing.

Julie Maskery, chief operating officer at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said the ‘black alert’ status does not “reflect our ability to provide the best possible care to all of our patients”. 

She said their hospitals remain safe to anyone needing emergency medical care. 
Basingstoke hospital was forced to begin postponing planned operations in December to cope with the influx of newly-infected patients.

You can read the full story in this week’s edition of The Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • A Basingstoke medic experienced an emotional moment when she discovered she was delivering a vaccine to an Auschwitz survivor - hours before Holocaust Memorial Day. 
  • Basingstoke’s MP has reacted to the ‘tragic loss’ of at least 22 residents of Pemberley House care home to coronavirus by urging people to ‘take up the offer’ of the vaccine.
  • Another Basingstoke care home has declared an outbreak of Covid-19 resulting in deaths of residents.
  • A Basingstoke man has been fined after travelling to a rave in Wales during the summer.
  • A supermarket worker who is still suffering from Covid-19 10 months after catching it is warning people of the long-term effects of the virus.  
  • A woman drowned in the pond in the garden of her historic mansion after consuming alcohol and prescription drugs, an inquest heard. 
  • A Basingstoke gym has hit back after concerns were raised about it operating during the coronavirus lockdown. .
  • Curiousity took a man down a ‘dark road’ to download child abuse and animal porn images, a court heard.
  • PLUS: All the latest from Basingstoke Magistrates' Court.
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor.
  • TAYLOR WILLIAMS MURDER: Justice as killer is jailed
  • The latest news from our communities.
  • An eight-page puzzle special.
  • An eight-page children's activities special.
  • Business news.
  • Three pages of entertainment news.
  • Sports news. And much more!

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