Tragedy of five Covid-19 deaths at Southport Hospitals Trust

Five people have tragically died with Covid-19 at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals.

The deaths have been reported by NHS England in the past 24 hours.

They are the first deaths officially recorded by Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospitals Trust since the Coronavirus outbreak in the UK began.

The figures do not reveal whether the deaths occurred in Southport or Ormskirk.

There are currently 73 confirmed cases of people in Sefton suffering from Coronavirus, although many more have been asked to self-isolate by NHS 111 after reporting symptoms.

The Trust recently placed a ban on visitors to its two hospitals, which came into force last Thursday, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

The new restrictions at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital follow the latest Government Covid-19 advice restricting social contact and unnecessary travel.

The decision comes after earlier restrictions imposed on March 18 by the hospitals which limited visiting to one hour a day.

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Families and friends of patients are now asked not to visit either hospital other than by arrangement. Visits will be permitted in exceptional circumstances on an individual basis which will be agreed with the nurse in charge of the ward.

Separate arrangements will apply to the following areas:

Maternity and women in labour – one birthing partner per patient

Child inpatients – one carer per child

Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospitals Trust Chief Executive Trish Armstrong-Child said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly but it is in line with the Government’s instructions on Tuesday to minimise social contact during the current situation.

“Please consider other ways of speaking with your loved ones, such as by phone or video calling.”

The Trust has been exploring opportunities to support inpatients and families keep in touch.

A spokesman said: “We know things are very hard at the moment if you have loved ones in hospital. So we have allocated one staff member per ward, to make sure a call is made for each patient every day, to a chosen family member or friend. We will try wherever possible to make this a video call.

“You can also write letters and send by email to soh-tr.lettertolovedones@nhs.net we will print them off, pop into an envelope and deliver to our patients.”