MANAGERS of health care and emergency services across Essex have pleaded with the government to pour more resource into the region to combat the pressures it is under because of Covid-19.

As exclusively reported on Thurrock Nub News last night (Tuesday, 29 December) hospitals across the region stand on the brink of declaring a black alert - an effective closure of their doors with patients in care being discharged in some instances to make space for more seriously ill patients

And at 6am this morning the Essex Resilience Forum - a partnership of health services, police and councils including Thurrock Borough Council - declared 'major incident' status.

A statement by the partnership reads: "In response to a significant growing demand on hospitals and health and social care services across Essex, and particularly Mid and South Essex due to coronavirus, the Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) has declared a 'major incident' – enabling the county to seek further support from Government to address the pressures.

"Local leaders from the ERF - a group that comprises the NHS, blue light responders and local authorities - say the pressures are being felt primarily in NHS and local authority services and are associated with critical care and bed capacity, staff sickness/self-isolation levels and the system's ability to discharge patients quickly into safe environments.

"Today, the number of patients in Essex receiving treatment for coronavirus increased to levels which have exceeded those seen at the peak of the first wave of the virus in the Spring. These levels are likely to increase further in the coming days."

Anthony McKeever, Executive Lead for Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership, said: "We are taking every action possible within the NHS and across the wider health and social care partnerships in Essex to limit the impact on the NHS and the wider health system.

"This involves using critical care capacity elsewhere in Essex and the Eastern region and identifying additional locations and capacity to assist with the discharging of patients to reduce pressure on hospitals.

"Our strong working relationships mean we are able to respond effectively to support our local communities.

"I would also like to pay tribute to all those hard-working colleagues who are working tirelessly to support our communities across the system. They are all doing an amazing job in extremely difficult circumstances."

Chief Constable of Essex Police and Co-Chair of the Forum, BJ Harrington, said: "Declaring a major incident enables us to seek further support from the Government to address the severe pressures which the health system is under because of Covid-19.

"The people of Essex have been magnificent and are only dialling 999 or attending A&E in an emergency – we need this to continue because this will help protect the very limited capacity available at our hospitals. Please stay safe; work from home if possible, follow the social distancing rules, and only travel if absolutely necessary."

On Monday, figures showed the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 across hospitals in England was at a record high of 20,426 - beating the previous peak of about 19,000 in April.

The latest government figures show there were 549 Covid patients at Southend, Basildon and Broomfield University hospitals - run by the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust - which is the highest total since the start of the pandemic.