Local MP, Maria Miller, continues to be in close contact with Basingstoke NHS services, monitoring the continued impact of positive tests for Covid on local services.
Maria said, “Our local Ambulance Service and Hospital Trust are under extreme pressure because of the continued high levels of covid infection throughout the South East and they are asking residents to only contact ambulance and Hospital services in an emergency. GP surgeries and the NHS 111 service should be the first place to call in most situations.
"Significant numbers of Hospital and Ambulance staff are unable to work after testing positive for Covid and there are patients being admitted to Hospital for emergency treatment who are also testing positive and then require extra space for isolation.
"It's important to note that only small numbers of patients are being admitted for Covid treatment or contract Covid in Hospital because of the precautions that have been put in place. However, the Hospital and Ambulance services care for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Therefore, reducing transmission amongst patients and staff is a much higher priority than in many other areas of community life.
"As well as these staffing pressures the local NHS continues to tackle the huge backlog of non-Covid treatment which has built up over the past 24 months."