Exclusive: More than 10,000 patients caught Covid-19 while being treated in hospital

More than 10,000 people acquired coronavirus when they were being treated in hospital for other illnesses, The Telegraph can disclose.

Analysis of statistical data shows that thousands of patients who had been admitted to hospitals across England caught the potentially deadly virus during their stay, with one NHS Trust recording that nearly four out of every ten Covid-19 cases they were treating had been acquired in its hospitals.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that 139 out of 357 Covid-19 patients they had treated had caught the virus there – 38.9 per cent – with board papers showing that five patients had died.

The startling figures show that since August, more than 16 per cent of people treated for Covid-19 in hospital have acquired the potential deadly virus there.  

The Telegraph has launched an online search tool so that readers can check the figures for hospitals in their local area.

The disclosure will raise fears about infection control and whether the NHS has adequate measures in place to protect patients.

It is also likely to anger people across the country who are currently subject to severe restrictions on their lives, partly to protect the NHS – when hospitals themselves appear to have failed to protect patients.

The news comes as a Telegraph investigation has exposed apparent failings in infection control at a hospital in Greater Manchester.

Relatives of some patients who were admitted to the hospital for non-Covid related issues and subsequently died of the virus, said their death was “unnecessary”.

Tracy Hale, whose mother died from the virus after being admitted for a fall, said: “People are dying unnecessarily… they’ve [the hospital] just gave no duty of care to them whatsoever.”

On Wednesday night, Jeremy Hunt, chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: "We were probably too late in introducing weekly testing for NHS staff last month – but now we have, there is absolutely no justification for this level of hospital infections.

"The best hospitals are managing to keep nosocomial infections right down so there needs to be urgent action by those that are failing to do so."

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health minister said: “These are alarming findings that will cause understandable concern for patients and their loved ones.

“It’s vital robust infection control is in place across hospital trusts and that all frontline staff access ongoing regular routine testing. Ministers must put in place measures to stamp out hospital-acquired Covid infections.”

Since August, NHS Trusts around the country have been reporting the numbers of “probable” Covid-19 infection acquired within the hospitals – known as nosocomial infections.

The Telegraph has analysed data submitted to NHS England by hospital trusts with A&E departments that have treated more than 100 Covid-19 patients since August, to find which hospitals were reporting high numbers of hospital acquired infections. 

The highest proportion of cases is Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; followed by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust at 37 per cent (146 cases); and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at 34 per cent (91 cases).

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust recorded that 100 of the patients they had treated for Covid-19 – or almost 22 per cent – were hospital acquired infections.

The Trust became the focus of national attention in the autumn when it accounted for more than a third of all coronavirus deaths among inpatients in England at the beginning of September.

A probe was launched after the Trust, which only includes one hospital, recorded a sudden and unexplained rise in coronavirus deaths in a week in September.

Staff from NHS Improvement visited the site and it is understood that the board of the Trust were told infection control procedures were “in order”.

However, after speaking to more than 20 families of those who were treated at the hospital, The Telegraph has found that in some instances medics allegedly failed to separate patients experiencing coronavirus symptoms from those admitted to general wards – an apparent breach of NHS guidance.

On Wednesday night, Dr Lara Alloway, the chief medical officer at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said that each outbreak of Covid-19 was “rigorously investigated” and they had brought in a number of measures including tighter visiting restrictions and increased testing for patients. 

They said they also ensured that patients with Covid-19 are “kept separate from those without to ensure any risk of transmission is kept to an absolute minimum”.

Tameside hospital said that they had “rigorous infection prevention control measures in place” and that it would be “wrong and misleading to suggest that there is bad practice around infection control at the Trust”.

They said their practices were “validated by teams from Public Health England and NHS England who visited in September and were satisfied that the Trust were following national guidance relating to infection control and prevention”. 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:“Patient safety has been a top priority throughout the pandemic, and we have worked with public health experts to put in place measures to reduce infection and save lives.  

“High levels of precaution and care are being taken to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19 in hospital and anyone who thinks they need medical care should not be deterred from seeking help.

“On top of record funding already provided to the NHS, there is £31.9 billion extra for health services to tackle coronavirus, plus £3 billion to support the NHS during winter and £450 million to upgrade and expand A&E facilities and improve infection control.”  

An NHS spokesman said: "When infections in the community are high, NHS staff and patients are more likely to be affected so it is hardly surprising that following an almost twentyfold increase in Covid cases since August, that cases in staff and patients increased also.

‘Hospitals have been told to rigorously follow regularly updated guidance on infection prevention and since asymptomatic tests kits were made available for the first time by the government’s test and trace programme in November, almost half a million staff have been tested to help to keep infection rates as low as possible."

• Email your hospital experiences to  covidstories@telegraph.co.uk 

Read more: The Telegraph reveals serious concerns over coronavirus deaths at Tameside Hospital