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Hospitals were asked to change the way they collect The data on patients infected with coronavirus differentiate between genuinely sick people with symptoms and those who test positive while seeking treatment for something else.
The move would reduce the total number of patients hospitalized for coronavirus, because until now, hospital data has included all patients who test positive for Covid-19whether or not they are showing symptoms.
NHS England asked hospitals to change the daily flow of data sent by NHS trusts and said The independent that the decision was made to help analyze the effect of the vaccination program and whether it was successfully reducing Covid-19 disease.
He has yet to pledge to release the data, but the change could prove crucial to the government’s decision to end the lockdown on June 21.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Coronavirus, warned the government should not use the data to “mass” the numbers ahead of the June 21 decision.
An NHS source said the new data would be “more realistic” as not all patients were sick with the virus, adding: “But it will improve the numbers because there always has been, for example stroke [patients], which also had the Covid as a fortuitous discovery ”.
In a letter to hospital bosses on June 7, shared with The independentNHS England Director of Covid Incidents Professor Keith Willett said from now on NHS England wanted a “breakdown of the current stock of Covid patients into those hospitalized with acute symptoms of Covid-19 (and for which Covid-19 is the main reason for being in the hospital); and those who are primarily hospitalized for a reason other than Covid-19 (but for whom the hospital must manage and treat the symptoms of Covid-19 alongside their main illness).
He added: “Simply put, this could be seen as a binary divide between people hospitalized ‘for Covid-19’ and those hospitalized ‘with Covid-19’. We are requesting this binary division for patients newly admitted to hospital and those newly diagnosed with Covid in hospital. “
During the coronavirus crisis, many hospital patients were sick with the virus, with intensive care units being forced to double or triple their capacity and the vast majority of patients needing oxygen.
It has always been true that as the virus spreads in the community, some patients would be likely to test positive.
One clinician said: “As the prevalence in the community increases, the rate in the hospital will increase accordingly. But if a proportion of this younger cohort is hospitalized for other reasons, then the story is completely different. This change will give it a much better view. “
NHS England data on hospital admissions is published daily at the regional level and several days later on the government dashboard. A daily internal Covid data dashboard tracks infections in hospitals but is not made public.
Professor Ian Douglas of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said: ‘I think there is a good case for presenting this data separately – people hospitalized’ with ‘versus’ for’ Covid, as it resolves in part the burden on health services due to the virus. Not completely though, as people hospitalized with Covid will likely also need to be treated differently to avoid further spread, placing an additional burden on hospitals.
“I have no idea what the split looks like at the moment, and most importantly, we won’t know in retrospect what the trend is. As a result, there are only a few days left before any announcement on June 21, which may not give us enough time to know which direction the “for Covid” numbers are going. What we shouldn’t be doing is drawing conclusions that the numbers are lower once the “with Covid” numbers are removed. “
Layla Moran said The independent: “If this gives a more precise picture of the impact of the Covid on our hospitals, we should be congratulated. However, we have to be careful that the government is using this as a way of massaging the numbers as June 21 approaches.
“It is also crucial that ministers start counting cases of people with Covid long, rather than just focusing on hospitalizations and deaths. The latest estimates are that over a million people in the UK are living with a long Covid; the government must stop ignoring these hidden victims of the pandemic.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: ‘Throughout the pandemic, the NHS has released daily, weekly, monthly and updated information on hospital activity of Covid, and this is a new update. up to date for operational reasons as it is obviously important for the NHS to continue monitoring Covid cases in hospitals, alongside the success and impact of the vaccination program. ”
They added that the data was used for planning and operational reasons and should be checked and verified before being released.
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