NHS hospital in London on the brink and turns coronavirus patients away

An NHS London hospital have said they are so overwhelmed they are forced to turn coronavirus patients away to other hospitals.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has admitted they are sending patients to neighbouring hospitals, after NHS chiefs warned services across London are on the brink.

According to the Telegraph, a senior clinician said on Tuesday they are making decisions as to who is to be admitted into intensive care out of an eligible group of patients infected with coronavirus.

London is currently the epicentre of the virus with many thousands across the capital are thought to already have coronavirus.

England’s chief scientific advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance warned earlier this week, for every death there could be at least 1,000 people that already have coronavirus across London.

NHS medical chiefs warned on Thursday that smaller hospitals will soon be on the brink of being overwhelmed to cope with the influx.

According to a senior scientist who works in virology, people who suffer from coronavirus can suffer with the lack of smell and taste.

Dr Simon Walsh, the British Medical Association for emergency care said’ “Most hospitals have already managed to double their critical care capacity but the worrying thing I am hearing is that some units around London are already filled to capacity and some are exceeding capacity.”

A government source told The Telegraph, “In London, the situation is already looking like one of the worst winters we could remember, elderly people needing ventilators and just not enough of them to go round.

“We were already under pressure, the situation is deteriorating pretty fast.”

Boris Johnson announced on Thursday, the first UK coronavirus patient is now in a “randomised trial for drugs that may treat the disease.

A new document published by the Covid-19 team at London’s Imperial College, warns the current public health threat is the “most serious” respiratory virus since the Spanish Flu in 1918.